A Very Unexpected Change
by ShadowHeart251
Summary: Kakashi never suspected that something so unusual would happen. Something so unbelievable. He's traveled back in time and feels like it's up to him to change things even at the risk of his own life. And it seems his students have come along for the ride.
1. Chapter 1

Here's a new story and hopefully just as great as my Shikamaru story. Enjoy and please review if you want. I hope to see new and old readers of mine.

* * *

A Very Unexpected Change

Changes came from choices and like always, the silver-haired ninja wished he had made a different choice that day instead of making the worst mistake in his entire life. He had become a Jounin teacher, but things hadn't really changed. He still had so many regrets. Even with the Sharingan eye, he still didn't know what the future holds. He wondered what they would say to him now. . . If they could. . .

Deep within his own thoughts, Hatake Kakashi stared at the stone-faced monument that bore the names of his team from so long ago. Kakashi gently traced the engraved names and reflected back on how much of an idiot he had used to be.

Trapped in his bleak memories, Kakashi closed his mismatched eyes and tensed as the pain rushed through him. He didn't even know he had been silently crying until he rose up from his crouched position and touched the edges of his mask which was wet with tears.

Sighing heavily, the famous Copy Nin swiped at his eyes before glancing way up high in the sky. He always came here first thing in the moment, and usually stayed a lot longer than he intended . Try as he might, he just couldn't seem to leave, and consequently this made him have to think of excuses to tell his team.

"Late again," Kakashi murmured from beneath his black mask as he brushed away a stray leaf from his Jounin uniform.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose along with the fact that his pulse rate quickened for a slight instance. He glanced around wary about the fact that he had felt a cold shiver raise up his spine. But the Copy Nin could not sense any evil intent in the air and he registered no chakra signal, familiar or otherwise. It could be that someone was masking their chakra but he highly doubted that since there had been no further action. If there had been someone, then they would have probably attacked by now.

The air cleared and calmed around him and Kakashi relaxed with a pleasant expression on his face. Tightening his fingerless gloves, Kakashi walked off, hoping his students wouldn't be too mad as his lateness. _Then again when were they not?_

* * *

Tapping his foot impatiently, the hyperactive blond Shinobi crossed his arms with a large scowl on his face and then narrowed his bright blue eyes.

"Where the heck is he?" Naruto growled low in his throat, before calming down when he glanced over at the female member of his team. Realizing she was ignoring him, he leaned against an old oak tree, which clashed horribly with the bright orange jumpsuit he wore.

Sakura sighed and fiddled with the lower edges of her pink skirt, while her pink hair danced with the wind's movements. She gazed dreamingly at the other member of her squad and blushed when her own green eyes met the dark brooding eyes of Sasuke.

She turned away from the dark-haired boy with embarrassment and busied herself once again with her skirt which went quite well with her red silk blouse. She was far older now and even though Sasuke was back, she could never forget that the first time Naruto went to get him, Sasuke did not return back with them. Her thoughts twisted to the other member of their team who remarkably looked a lot like Sasuke except he had shorter hair. The artistic Sai, who was clueless when it came to social interactions. . . He had his weird creepy moments but he was now considered another part of Team Seven, even though at the moment, he was away on mission.

"Good morning, everyone," the deep lazy voice of Kakashi drawled as he walked toward his irritated students.

"YOU'RE LATE!" shouted Naruto and Sakura simultaneously as they loudly voice their concerns. They had always responded to his lateness like that. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, noting the backpacks on their backs. Thankfully, they had all listened to him and was prepared for the mission for today.

"I got caught by a rain cloud," Kakashi explained making up an excuse as he smiled beneath his mask. They glanced at his dry baggy clothes and looked up at the bright sunny sky and glared.

"LIAR!" the two voices yelled right on time while Sasuke huffed and rolled his eyes with annoyance.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask at the timely display of showing their anger and pulled out his perverted book, "Today we start our mission."

"I bet it's gonna be good! Like An A-rank!" Naruto boomed with excitement as he grinned a huge grin while at the same time thrusting his fist into the air. Kakashi barely looked up from the entertaining Icha-Icha Paradise book.

"Master Kakashi, you never told us what the mission entails or what rank it is," Sakura inquired as she held her eyes on Kakashi, wondering if he was this eluding when he was younger or this perverted. He probably was both.

"It's a C-rank one, which I hope stays that way. We're being assigned a bodyguard mission," Kakashi responded ruffling the loud blond and pink haired ninjas as he spoke. Sasuke inched away before his teacher could attempt to ruffle his hair. Kakashi glanced at all of them and pointed toward the gate, "Let's go, our client's waiting."

"Darn it," Naruto mumbled beneath his breath as he started to follow them, hoping that this mission was a whole lot more entertaining than Kakashi had predicted.

When they reached the gate, they saw a tall slender guy whose appearance was greasy and unbecoming. As soon as they got close, the young man with the slicked back hair stared at Sakura with a leering expression. He smiled and winked at Sakura who shuddered delicately. Kakashi noted this and groaned inwardly at the situation they were in.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the second. The first looked lonely. A bit short but sweet. The adventure ahead will be coming up soon. If anyone can guess, that would be cool. But it might be already obvious.

* * *

"That was boring! Why couldn't it involve other ninjas? It's just not fair!" complained Naruto acting like a spoiled child. He crossed his arms over his orange jumpsuit and pointed toward Kakashi accusingly. Sakura decided it was time to knock some sense into the annoying Naruto and quickly slammed her hand into the back of his head. Sasuke was noncommittal as usual but he shook his head and eyed the blond as if to figure out why the loud ninja was such a pest.

"Stop being so hard on Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura scolded even though she felt like complaining along with him about the recent mission. She'd never want to see that perverted jewelry man as long as she lived. Even though it meant payment, Sakura wished he would never ask Konoha for another protection mission- well at least not with Team seven.

"We'll call it a day and visit Ichiraku," Kakashi said still not closing the Icha-Icha Paradise book gripped firmly in his hand. He carefully noted the inner fire in Sakura's eyes, "Perhaps some ramen will calm us down."

"Fine, but next time, I expect a better mission from you," Naruto grumbled, holding his belly and running toward Ichiraku ramen shop. He called back to Sasuke, "I bet I can beat you to Ichiraku!"

Sasuke looking irritated but competive, raced with Naruto to see who would win. Pink-haired Sakura looked on with resentful looks as she lost the opportunity to ask if Sasuke would say yes to a date. She shrugged wondering if those two would ever stop competing with one another.

Kakashi closed his book and walked alongside the last member of the team. Eating a bit would calm the nerves and allow the three to relax. Besides, he was glad the mission was over, since the client had been hitting on Sakura the whole time who was clearly uninterested. It had been tiring trying to keep those two apart, so that Sakura wouldn't attempt to kill the guy they had to protect and in doing so make them fail the mission.

Kakashi sighed and decided to put Sakura at ease, "I'm sorry you had to put up with Shinji Kamahi. If I had known he was such a pervert, I would have chosen a different mission."

Surprised at the apology, Sakura looked up at her Sensei and answered back with a reasonable reply," It was annoying but I was able to handle it. Even if I wanted to strangle the guy."

"Hmm," Kakashi pondered already picturing the torture. She had gotten stronger and more temperamental as time passed. Perhaps studying with Tsunade had been the best thing for her. And with her adept skills, she may just end up a greater Kuniochi than the Lady Fifth.

And as for Naruto, he wasn't the same loud boy he had used to be since he gotten more mature. But that didn't change the fact that he was still as loud as ever and not that bright at times. But he had a large heart and a friendly attitude.

Even Sasuke had changed once he had gotten back, since he felt remorseful and weary after what he had done by betraying the village. He was more reserved but didn't get as angry as he used to. But as for himself, Kakashi hadn't changed that much over the years.

Getting back to the matter at hand, he pulled out a stool and sat down. Smelling the appetizing aroma, Kakashi decided to order himself a bowl of ramen. He wondered curiously if they would try to see under his mask again. It was amusing to him, once he found out what they were doing.

"You're eating?"

Lazily, he glanced over, looked at the wide-eyed expressions on their faces, and nodded, "Why not? I do eat, you know."

Ayame, the Ichiraku shop-owner's daughter blushed and squealed as she proceeded to lay his steaming bowl of noodles in front of him. Kakashi winked and took out a pair of chopsticks. He blessed the food with the usual phrase, Itadakismasu, which simply meant that he humbly received this food, and slowly edged his finger up to his mask and touched it and gently pulled at the fabric in a teasing manner. Catching the eyes of his team on him, he changed his mind and raised a finger for his bill.

"I'm going to take this to go," Kakashi explained, as Ayame carefully put his food into a small boxed container. He handed her the money surprisingly, and quickly left with his meal enjoying the disappointment on his team's face as he left.

"I can't believe what a coward he is," Mocked Sasuke, frustrated that they missed another chance at seeing the hidden face behind the mask. He scowled and settled lower in his seat hoping for the chance that seemed would never come.

"Will we ever get to see beyond that mask of his?" mumbled Sakura, irritated that Kakashi interrupted their fun. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head with disappointment.

"What is he hiding beneath those two masks? Thick lips? Buckteeth?" Naruto muttered along with his crew, slurping up noodles," At least this time he actually paid instead of making us."

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Sakura scolded, smacking Naruto's head lightly, since it wasn't a major offense. She sighed along with the others. . .

They sat there in silence and just pondered on about life in general.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Enjoy.

* * *

After he had turned in the mission report, Kakashi took his time on getting home, not caring how long it took him. But even while his eyes were engrossed with his perverted book, he knew it wouldn't be too soon before he hurried home, once it grew dark. Especially since today would be one of those moonless nights with no light to allow him to enjoy the printed words on the inked pages of his book.

As Kakashi faded into the dark, he reluctantly put away his book into his pocket and used a transportation Jutsu to appear in front of his doorway. Looking around and sniffing, he securely knew it was safe as there was no one around.

Kakashi tilted the side of the chimes attached to the upper part of his window, and pulled away the key. He opened the door and listened pleasingly to the sounds of the creaking as the door moved along with his movements. Snapping his fingers, the golden lights immediately got to work on lighting the place up.

Entering, Kakashi walked straight toward his beloved bookcase, which surprisingly didn't entirely contain his perverted books. He put away the one story in his pocket and took out a cherished old Icha book that always gave him dreams that pushed away the nightmares of the past. He carried it to his bed and laid it on the small dresser along with his forehead protector. Kakashi changed into something more comfortable, but kept on the mask as he settled himself on the bed, and read his book far into the night.

He read line after line and sentence after sentence before he yawned and carefully put it away and eased himself under the covers before pulling off his sleeveless shirt that was connected to his mask.

He snapped his fingers and almost at once, the lights flickered off. Mask-less and sleepy-eyed Kakashi pulled the covers up over the lower half of his face and gently eased himself into a sleep filled with slightly erotic dreams. . .

* * *

A sharp splitting pain jolted the sleeping Mirror Ninja upright from his warm and supporting bed. He groaned from the sudden movement, for it made the constantly throbbing pain even harder to bear. And for a few moments it hurt even to breathe in welcoming air.

Without thought, he lifted his hand and covered up his left eye of red, while the other grabbed his forehead protector. The pain soothed just as quickly and suspiciously, he wondered if the Sharingan eye was the cause of the pain. But usually, the eye gave him no problems, except for exhaustion and chakra drainage.

In a few seconds, Kakashi dismissed his thoughts and had his Hiati-ate tilted over his dark-red Sharingan eye and had his mask back to covering his face.

Kakashi finished getting dressed the rest of the way and took a few steps toward his bookcase, but before he could grab one of his beloved books, he fell backwards in a startled descend to the floor. Even his reactions of a ninja were failing him as his head slammed into the hard-waxed floor.

Kakashi groaned from the sickening impact and closed both eyes as he quickly lost consciousness and fell into a dark sleep where pain racked his mind and memories tore at his heart. . .

* * *

_I was naïve. They . . . They really could kill each other . . . Please let me make it in time. . ._

_. . ._

_**Too **__**late . . .**_

_. . . _

_How could this happen?_

_. . ._

_I couldn't make it in time. I'm sorry Naruto. Knowing you . . .you really gave it your all, didn't you?_

_**Kakashi struggled lightly within his nightmare, but even though it was a harsh reality it was better than the other nightmare that used to plague his dreams. But it wasn't over yet.**_

_Did I make it?_

_. . ._

_No. You're late . .. Obito!_

_. . ._

_As of today, Kakashi is Jounin like me._

…

_It's healing, but if you aren't careful, the wound will open._

…

_What. . What about Rin! Right now our top priority is rescuing Rin, not our mission._

_. . ._

_Sure, in a ninja's world, those who break the rules are scum but those who do not care for their friends are even lower than that. If I'm scum, the rules are no good for me and if breaking them makes me the wrong kind of Shinobi, I'll crush all the so-called Shinobi._

_. . ._

_Obito behind you! Ugh. . My eye!!_

_. . ._

_Guys make for the exit! Urk. . My new blind spot. . ._

_. . ._

_Don't Kakashi. It's okay. I don't think I'm going to make it. My right side is pretty much gone. I don't. . I don't even feel anything._

_. . ._

_No. . . not like this. . . Why?_

_. . ._

_This can't be! If only I'd come. If only I'd come with you from the start, like you told me to, this would have never happened!!_

_. . ._

_I'm giving you my Sharingan. Whatever the village may say, you are a great Jounin. I want you to know that. Please accept . _

_. . . _

_I'm about to die, but I'll become your eye and we'll see what happens in the future. Look after Rin for me._

_. . ._

_Don't worry._

_. . ._

_I promised Obito, I'd protect you with my life. Rin. . Obito, he loved you. . . You were his only one. He gave his life to protect you._

_. . ._

_Then Kakashi!! You should know how I feel about you. ._

_. . ._

_I. . . I deserted you . . . I'm nothing but scum . . . . ._

_**Kakashi shuddered and shook inside as the nightmare changed and took in a horrible turn. It was a bitter dream and it had come again to haunt him. And deep inside he screamed as he fought for escape.**_

* * *

When Kakashi came to, he jerked straight up, clutching and forcing precious air into his lungs. He harshly gasped for air, until his ragged breathing returned successfully to normal.

Carefully, the silver-haired ninja calmly touched the back of his throbbing head and winced when he pulled away and came back with driblets of blood on his hand. It was only a small bump, so steadily he rose and swiftly treated it by washing the blood from his hair and from the dark blue cloth of his headband.

Drying his hair, and then tying the hiati-ate back in place, Kakashi once again visited his bookshelf and pulled one at random and tucked it into his kunai pouch. Finished with that Kakashi stepped outside and glanced at where the sun was at in the sky. Reluctantly he headed straight to the training grounds, as it was way too late to visit the Memorial. But as he traveled, he walked with a slight slower pace to reduce his slight headache.

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	4. Chapter 4

Enjoy. And the adventure will start up soon. Probably in the next chapter or the one after that.

* * *

Once Kakashi arrived to greet his grumbling students, his headache started up again. Blaming that problem on Naruto was easy, since the boy had a loud mouth that he believed could wake the dead. Surprisingly that belief had not happened yet, but Kakashi supposed it was only a matter of time before Naruto did.

He glanced around and noted that Sai must have gotten back early from his mission. The clueless artist had no social skills and did not know anything about tact but he was learning from his experiences with Team Seven. Sai reminded him of Sasuke, especially in the looks and voice department despite their different personalities. But obviously Sasuke resented the fact that Sai was an attempt as an replacement and usually ignored him unless an insult was thrown Sasuke's way.

"I couldn't find my way here," Kakashi responded in a lazy voice as he pulled out another one of his infamous excuses. He prepared himself for their outbursts but that didn't stop his headache from increasing its painful feelings.

He explained today's endurance training and settled back against a solid maple tree a few feet away. Kakashi was in no mood to teach anything new and the last image he saw before falling asleep was Naruto and Sasuke arguing about who knew what?

Sakura's green eyes turned to plead with her teacher to stop the fight that was sure to commence, but he was too busy snoozing away the day.

She rushed over to the boys and they all shuffled toward him to listen to his soft easy breathing. Even Sai stood up from his seat on the grass and gently put away his sketchbook to see what his superior was doing. He stared at the sleeping form and glanced at Naruto whose eyes were twinkling with delight.

"I think he fell asleep," Naruto stated, blinking his laughing blue eyes as he studied the sight before him. He held his chest as he tried stifling the laughter that was just begging to be let out.

"Obviously dobe," Sasuke mocked as he used the old nickname. Naruto resented the insult and clenched his fists in anger. Sai silently watched and was about to pipe up with a comment that they would have taken as an insult, but Sakura swiftly intervened.

"Don't start you two," Sakura fussed as she thought of a nice little plan, "If he wakes up, we might never get another chance like this."

Startled the rivals stopped and stared at the sleeping Kakashi. Naruto grinned and tried controlling his twitching hands. Sai looked on, bafflement on his face as he noted the sudden stop in their arguments. _Was this one of those enticing ways that females seemed to always have handy? Or was it because of the fear that this particular female could easily beat them senseless for it was highly unlikely that Sakura owned that particular brand of charm._

"What are you suggesting, Hag- I mean Sakura-Chan," Sai asked, correcting his slip up and glancing at Sakura and noting the sudden tightening of her gloves. She calmed down slightly and breathed out peacefully as she glanced over at her Sensei and narrowed her eyes.

Scooting closer and stepping to the side, Sakura brushed back her hair as it gently caressed her cheek. Sleek fingers touched the soft silk mask and ever so slowly, she slipped her fingers around the edges of the dark mask and gently pulled.

But the edge of the other side caught underneath his forehead protector and prevented Sakura from pulling any further than an inch. With her other hand, she gently pushed the headband a few inches upward and just as she was about to continue her descent, a long arm shot up and stilled her progress with a few long fingers that rested around her wrist in a firm grip.

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath at the quick alertness and released it in a long drawn out sigh when she realized it was only a reflexive action. Her tense teammates relaxed and she whispered to the others," Even asleep, he's quick."

Naruto groaned and he and Sasuke pried the Copy Nin's fingers away from Sakura's wrist but paused in horror when the sleeping figure moaned in pain.

"Memories, can't . . . Forget," Kakashi whimpered out in obvious agony in his tortured sleep, "It hurts so much."

His dark brown eye blinked open and groggily Kakashi fastened his focus on the three faces in front of him. He relaxed his grip and let go of Sakura's wrist. Sakura rubbed her wrist distractedly even if Kakashi-Sensei had caused no pain. Sasuke let his hands rest in his pocket while he stared straight ahead arrogantly toward his teacher as if he had done nothing wrong. But Naruto was avoiding Kakashi-Sensei's eyes and looked towards the others to figure out a reasonable excuse. Sakura warned him with her eyes to stop fidgeting and Naruto immediately straightened and stared straight ahead as well.

"What were you guys doing?" he asked with a slight stern voice that made the three ninjas flinch in guilt. Sai just stood there, his facial expressions showing a sense of bemusement. Kakashi crinkled his eye and smiled softly at their amusing reactions to his words. He still hadn't lost his touch.

Stumbling backwards, they mumbled their pitiful excuses that challenged his own, and scampered off to finish up their training. Chuckling dryly, Kakashi pulled out his book and reread Chapter three and four.

Hours passed and at last, he decided that today's training had lasted long enough. Hastily he slipped his book back into his kunai pouch, and stepped toward his team in slow easy strides that wouldn't jar his head too much.

Keeping his hands in his pockets, Kakashi addressed them and dismissed them. He vanished in a poof of smoke, and the three glanced at each other. Silently they left, each shuddering when remembering the words Kakashi had let escape from his dream that seemed more like a nightmare. . .

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Enjoy. The adventure begins but in a unexpected way unless one already guessed what's to come. I love listening to my reviewers and I can't wait for their comments.

* * *

Holding a bright yellow sunflower in her hand, Ayame leaned dangerously over the side of the bridge to stare at her reflection in the clear blue water. Having dull brown hair and boring brown eyes, the young woman in the water smiled a loving but wistful smile.

"It's only a silly little crush," she scolded herself harshly as she found herself daydreaming about him again. At regular intervals during the day, she would catch herself thinking of such fantasy wishes that couldn't possibly come true. Her thoughts turned to warmth-filled gazes and sweet punishing kisses that ravished her lips. And to seductive words whispered in her ears that yanked at her heart and soul.

Ayame pulled herself back to distract herself, but she stumbled and pitched herself forward. She gasped as she fell but warm arms promptly caught her and pulled her safely back before she tumbled over.

Immense relief swept through her and, she leaned back and shuddered at what might have happened to her if she had fallen into the swirling currents below.

Ayame relaxed against a soothing strong male chest, feeling the strength of his arms as they stayed clasped around her waist. She breathed in the crisp intense smell of pure male and sighed. Her rescuer dropped his arms from around her and Ayame twisted around to thank him.

She felt her mouth go dry and her knees go weak as she gazed upward into the dark brown eye of the one she always thought about.

He towered over her and she stared at his broad muscled shoulders and felt her eyes travel down toward his hardened male chest and his long powerful legs before she looked up to stare at his masked face. His gravity-defying silver hair fluttered in the wind, and she resisted the tempting urge to swipe her fingers through it.

Ayame blushed bright tomato red at her forwardness, and lowered her eyes to the ground, "Thank you."

Kakashi flashed a smile beneath his mask and replied easily, "It was no problem."

Nervously her hands quivered and she smiled gladly back, her heart pounding as she gazed at him. There was a strange look in his eyes but it was very familiar look that appeared on anyone acquainted with the ninja outlook of life. He always wore it, like everyone else who wore that unforgettable Hiate-ate. It wasn't all that surprisingly that look. Ayame wished her heartbeat would revert back to normal, but she doubted that it would ever do so around him.

"Are you okay, Ayame?" Kakashi asked studying her dazed expression. She bobbed her head up and down and reassured, he walked away still ignoring his headache.

Feeling dizzy all of a sudden, Kakashi stopped in his tracks and lifted a hand to his head to steady himself. But he still fell forward with a startled crash. In fear, Ayame rushed over to him and yelled for help into the darkness that had crept around them while fear rushed through her heart and her mind.

* * *

Sighing deeply, Ayame scooted her hard-backed chair closer to the hospital bed and gently brushed her fingers through his soft silver hair in a light teasing manner. Her eyes softened as she glanced at the peaceful look on his face.

Wistfully she wanted to see him mask-less, but Ayame was content to just be here with Kakashi. She smiled happily and turned her head toward the door when she heard a unexpected crashing sound from the other side.

"Ouch! What was that for?" a loud voice followed after the sudden noise. Ayame reacted to the familiar voice, by hurriedly detaching her hand before Naruto entered. Unluckily for her, the Copy Nin's reflexes kicked in and her hand was trapped by his.

She tugged at her hand, trying to get him to release his grip, but that only caused him to tighten his holdings on her.

Embarrassment flushed her cheeks as the three of Hatake Kakashi's students stared at her in astonishment. Sai looked shocked as well and he wondered if there was something more going on with the civilian and Hatake-San.

The best customer of Ichiraku Ramen gaped at her like a fish before he finally closed his mouth. Curiosity shone in his vivid blue eyes and he opened his mouth to speak, "Why are you here?

"Don't be rude!" roared Sakura smacking his head with the back of her fist, "She must be his girlfriend, you idiot!"

Started at the sudden violence, Ayame instantly corrected Sakura's statement with her own voice, "Oh, but I'm not. I came to make sure he was alright after his collapse, after all he did save my life."

She shuddered in exhilaration as Kakashi gently smoothed his thumb over her pulse. Her wrist tingled with every rubbing movement and she deeply blushed when she failed in her attempts to ignore it.

"He won't let go. Could you help?" Ayame asked weakly, feeling humiliated to be caught in such an awkward predicament.

Naruto smiled in amusement and tried helping Ayame out of her troubling situation. But it proved harder than expected, and he grunted with frustration as he yanked at the long fingers.

"Why did Kakashi-Sensei fall for anyways?" he asked using all his strength to get Kakashi to let go.

"Tsunade-Sama said his Sharingan was acting up and releasing excessive amounts of chakra," Ayame informed worry in her deep brown eyes, "And obviously he's fallen more than once and having headaches lately."

"Move it, dobe," Insulted Sasuke shoving Naruto out of the way as he attempted to pry Kakashi's fingers from Ayame, "You're taking too much time."

But it was no use and Sakura rolled her eyes at their rivalry. She pushed them aside and ordered, "Out of the way!"

With her extraordinary strength learned from Tsunade herself, Sakura used her chakra control and gently pulled away Kakashi's hand away from Ayame's wrist with her fingers.

"Thank you," Ayame sighed in utter relief as the hand dropped to the owner's side. A low moan came from the silver-haired figure and he leaned up into a slumped sitting position. His eyes flew open and the Sharingan eye twirled, letting out chakra as an illusion entranced the others. But before the ninjas could disrupt the Genjutsu, the Sharingan distorted into strange shapes and without warning the sudden illusion turned into reality right before Kakashi fell back into his haunted sleep.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

The Adventure starts. Enjoy.

* * *

Sai woke as soon as he realized he was no longer standing in the hospital. He glanced about and blinked as he saw that something had changed. He wasn't sure at first to as what but his artistic eye caught and appreciated the new experience even though his mind hadn't caught on to his predicament.

"Here. You dropped this," Sai heard, as a hand forced a familiar leather-bound spiral sketchbook into his gloved hands. He glanced upwards and gaped in shock at the sight he saw. The shocked artist closed his jaw and for the first time he couldn't even manage his usual insulting comment.

The guy walking away, didn't offer any other aid, and for that Sai was grateful. For Sai had stiffened and he couldn't quite lift himself up from his spot at the moment. His shock settled and he knew that something was wrong even though he couldn't even remotely believe it. It must be still part of that illusion, but using his chakra for more calculations, he discovered that it was no illusion. It was all real.

His shock finally fading away, he stood up and tried to catch his breath as he looked about this strange new reality. Sai wasn't sure how to react in this sort of situation so he figured he would wear a bland expression until he found his team.

* * *

"You're in the middle of the street, so you might want to get up," a loud cheerful voice advised the confused ninja whose eyes slowly opened. The boy glared at the ground and lifted his head and looked at the tall blond man with sky blue eyes who was regarding him with a huge smile on his face.

Sasuke's eyes widened and the first words out of his mouth was, "Naruto? Is that you?"

"Fishcakes?" the blond repeated pondering why the strange Uchiha was staring at him with shock. He waved his hand in front of the boy's face, trying to recall if anyone else had ever acted this way toward him. Nope, he couldn't think of a single one, except for that strange gray-haired granny who had stared at him in amazement when he won the Who-Could-Eat-the-Most Ramen-Contest at the festival last year. He grinned sheepishly wondering if this guy had heard about it," I forgot to introduce myself, Namikaze Minato."

Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts and his expression returned to his normal irritated expression, "I thought you were someone else."

"Well, obviously I'm not," Minato remarked grinning from ear to ear as he walked off, leaving Sasuke still sitting in the middle of the street. Sasuke wondered if the dobe was related to this newcomer, since their minds worked the same way. And he didn't mean that as a compliment.

* * *

Catching sight of blond locks blowing in the wind, Rin wandered in that direction, wondering who else decided to be on top of the monument. She was there, for some herbs to replace in her travel-sized first-aid kit.

"Hello? Who's there?" She shouted over the breeze that blew roughly at her brownish-red hair. She rushed over in the person's direction and saw a blond-haired boy standing with his back toward spun around and she caught her breath. _Well, he looked just like Sensei. Was it possible that they were related? _With bright blue eyes and a large grin on his face, she smirked at the obvious answer.

"Who are you?" he asked grinning before he changed his expression to a confused and dazed look. Rin smiled back, the markings on her cheek rising as she did so, and then introduced herself.

"Rin. What are you doing here?" She asked pleasantly, her green eyes sparkling with amusement, "It's not every day, someone who looks like my own Sensei shows up."

"I don't know why I'm here. But I bet it's his way of wanting us to leave him alone." Naruto muttered, trying to recall exactly what happened. All he knew was that Kakashi-Sensei did something, and he didn't know what.

"Who are you talking about?" Rin asked curiously, wondering if he had a barely functioning ninja team as her own. She shrugged inwardly, knowing it was his business if he did, "Never mind. Well, I got to head to the training grounds soon so perhaps I'll see you in passing."

"Bye!" Naruto shouted, making her think that he was certainly related to Sensei if he could talk that loud. And strangely enough, he was absentminded enough to forget to tell her his name. _Oh, well, _Rin thought as she walked off, and left him there.

* * *

Sakura wasn't particularly thrilled at the moment. Actually she shivered with undisguised revulsion. Of all the place to be at, she hadn't expected to find herself stuck in one of the worst places to old stinky alleyway that smelt like rotten fish and other perishable items of food. She didn't know what happened to her, but she was angry at her sensei for putting her in this place. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and quickly walked away, making sure, she didn't smell the same as it once she escaped. When she saw the back of a fan, she called out as she spotted the symbol of Sasuke's clan.

"Hey!" she yelled rushing toward him, glad she had found him and lucky to be stuck alone with him. But when he turned around, Sakura was shocked to see that it wasn't Sasuke after all.

"What?" the Uchiha asked, tilting his head sideway as the goggles on his head covered his eyes. But it was obvious that he was a ninja by the headband on his forehead.

"I thought you were someone else," she stated in shock, confusion evident in her green eyes. She blinked again, wondering who this was, since she had never seen another Uchiha, other than Sasuke and his brother. But Itachi had killed his whole entire clan, so was it possible there was another survivor?

"It's possible. I'm Obito," He introduced himself with a huge smile on his face as he looked toward her," What's your name?"

"I'm Sakura and I seem to be a bit lost. Could you-" she began before a sudden look of horror lit his face as he stared at her. Did he recognize her or something?

"Oh no! I'm gonna be late! I can't believe I forgot we had training today. I'll see you later, Sakura!" He called out as he rushed by and headed to one of the training grounds. And suddenly she realized why he was so familiar, besides the fact he looked like an Uchiha. His attitude was very similar to Naruto's and his hair was just as spiky.

She shook her head and quickly decided she had to find her team and fast.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Enjoy.

* * *

Of all the things to happen, he hadn't expected to wake up and find a damp washcloth covering his forehead. He groaned and without opening his eyes, he realized that either he was at the hospital or that someone was taking care of him.

Kakashi looked into the eyes of the Ichiraku Ramen girl and discovered that they were in a middle of one of the training grounds, rather than the bridge that he remembered saving her.

"What are we doing here?" He panted as he reared his head up and acknowledged Ayame standing there. She had long brown dangling hair around her face and he wondered if it felt as soft as it looked. Kakashi admired her slim long legs, and noted the creamy flesh of her thighs as she knelt beside him on her knees.

Her eyes were of light brown that glimmered with a few sparks of gold and Kakashi stared at her rosy red lips which was practically begging for kisses with that full bottom lip shaped into a tasty pout. But his attention was caught on the rising swell of her breasts as she breathed in and out and gently rubbed the cloth over his forehead.

His thoughts were caught on naughty ones, and soon Kakashi felt heat rush through his veins as he admired her ever so shapely curves. Disrupting his thoughts, Kakashi reprimanded himself and sighed as he looked around. Maybe Icha-Icha was killing his brain cells; he'll limit his reading when around her. But maybe not yet; Kakashi was too eager to finish the last chapter, even if he had read it several times before. He'd curb his reading time after rereading the chapter a few times to get it properly stuck in his mind. After all it had been quite some time since he had read Volume six.

"Are you okay?" Ayame asked concern in her eyes. She felt kind of pathetic when she thought about how a good medic would be able to easily cleanse away the pain. She fiddled with the edges of the cloth, hoping it wasn't burning or causing a chill. Kakashi was special, and she wished she had the proper training of a medic, "I didn't think you'd be up. Tsunade-Sama mentioned with such strain on your Sharingan, you'd be resting for quite some time."

Stiffly, she arched her back trying to ease away her own tense nerves she had throttled by taking care of him for the last few hours. Two eyes of very different shades gazed up at the tantalizing and seductive stretching and groaned lightly.

Ayame urgently reached over him, and carefully peeled the cloth away from the sweat glazed forehead, hoping his feverish state was finally over. She brushed two fingers over his head, smoothly caressing the skin for any sign of heat. Her soft brown eyes relaxed as Ayame registered the cool feel of his skin across her fingertips and slowly eased her tired muscles into a more soothing position.

Kakashi urged himself to fight for control, and felt gratitude for the absent headache that allowed him to rigidly or easily become his normal lazy self. Thankful that the sight of sweat glistening on her neck did not unsettle him, Kakashi rose into a sitting position and picked up his headband lying on the edge of her skirts. He quickly rose to a standing stance and asked again, "What are we doing here?"

* * *

"Where is he?" He muttered, his eyes wandering to his female team member who simply waited on a large log. He slowly moved toward the other member, whose blond locks flowed in the wind," Why does he always break the rules? A true Shinobi would follow the ninja code as directed."

"Kakashi, I don't think he's trying to do it on purpose," Rin tried to stop Kakashi before he was really fired up. She smiled, "And anyway he should be here soon."

"It doesn't seem likely," younger Kakashi responded scowling and crossing his arms with his long blade strapped securely to his back, "I hate it when he does this."

Rin sighed softly, she could never get really angry with any of them. Obito had his annoying habits, but it was just a part of Obito and she didn't mind as much as Kakashi for sure. Kakashi on the other hand, was mostly oblivious to her love for him. But eventually he would see and perhaps it wouldn't be unrequited love that seems to happen so often in normal life.

Wisely, Minato stayed out of the conversation, for usually it would lead to built up rage that would eventually get Obito riled up as well once he arrived.

"I'm late aren't I?" Obito panted, huffing and puffing as he bent over with his hands on his knees. He looked at Kakashi's glinting glare, and he grimaced.

"When are you not?" vented Kakashi, trying hard not to lose his temper. Deep brown eyes sparking with annoyance, he speculated what horrible excuse Obito would have this time.

"A old lady wanted me to help her across the street and she wouldn't take no for an answer. . ." Obito answered weakly before stating, "I wasn't too late. Thankfully we're only training." "And soon we'll be put on the battlefield! We only have a few more days before we get any chances to fight. And what happens when you're late for a serious mission?" Kakashi argued, his temper catching as he was about to keep going.

"That's enough. Now lets get started." Minato stopped, before he could continue with his long winded rant. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

"I don't understand why we're here when we were at the hospital awaiting your recovery. But regardless of where we are, I'm worried about the others," Ayame admitted feeling out of sorts and deeply confused about her conflicting thoughts. She glanced at the striking silver hair of Kakashi and looked toward where the headband hid his prominent Sharingan eye.

Kakashi looked toward Ayame and sighed, "Who else was there besides yourself?"

"Just Sakura, Sasuke, Sai and Naruto. Oh, I hope they're okay." Ayame worried, biting her bottom lip while trying to think of what else happened before they all vanished. Her eyes narrowed but she shook her head and decided to focus on the positive things, "At least your chakra is not escaping through your Sharingan anymore."

"What?" Kakashi exclaimed, before pondering this turn of events. So the Sharingan caused his tiredness as he suspected," Was my Sharingan activated while I was unconscious?"

"Your eye released Chakra out, but the Sharingan remained inactive until the others came," Ayame explained helplessly, feeling useless just sitting and answering questions, "Once it started working, we were blinded by a bright light and we ended up here. But I'm not sure where the others are."

Obviously, the best plan to take next was to search and find those four. But not knowing exactly what had happened was making him tense. Kakashi was out of his depth and he hated it when he couldn't understand something. It should be quite simple to figure out where they were, since he had been in a weakened state and shouldn't be able to have taken everyone too far from home. But somehow Hatake Kakashi felt like something was wrong, as if it was more than a short distance away from Konoha.

"We better start searching before trouble finds them," Suggested Kakashi smoothly as he studied the surrounding environment. Spotting a slightly hidden path, the Copy Nin pulled a few branches and motioned for Ayame to follow.

Swiftly, the Ramen waitress scrambled after him. Sharingan Kakashi resisted the simple urge to turn around and pull Ayame deep into his arms. His attraction to this particular female was more than just a craving and he had to admit that he was a bit edgy about the fact that she was so young. But even with a great nine years between them, kind and considerate Ayame was proving to be a much greater distraction than he had expected.

Determined that he would ignore the longing he felt for her, Kakashi kept his eye on the trail and traveled it.

Ayame tried focusing mostly on the trail, but when ever her crush had to stop and pull out his kunai to clear the way, her eyes started to check him out. Mortified, she attempted to keep her eyes to the rest of the woods and hoped desperately that they were getting close to a village.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Enjoy.

* * *

"Darn you, Kakashi!" a extremely loud and irritated voice shouted at the top of his lungs.

In various places in the village, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto lifted their heads toward the sound and grinned. They had found Kakashi-Sensei, and hopefully the other members of their team would head straight in that direction the voice came from. They were finally going to meet up, instead of aimlessly searching around town for each other.

They hurried as fast as they could and when they reached the training ground, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke saw each other and felt like things were finally looking up for them. With only Sakura and Sasuke, having the only recently discovered news, they both opened their mouths to tell the team what they had found. But as the loud mouth voice spoke up again, they stopped and looked toward the training ground.

"I've got loads to tell you guys, but I'll wait until after we see Kakashi-Sensei," Sakura informed the others, ready to knock some sense into one of them if they dared to be impatient.

Once again Naruto's eyes widened and on a not so smart impulse whined, "Why not?"

"Because Naruto, I got to tell Kakashi-Sensei too!" Sakura reprimanded, smacking his head with her fist. Sakura could be very violent but she considered in a form of love for her friend and teammate. What else would make him more mature, or at least act differently around Sakura?

"Let's go, we're wasting time," Sasuke affirmed, impatient and irritated enough without them adding to it.

"C'mon Sasuke, Sakura!" Naruto responded with vigorous attentions as he swung his leg over the fence. Sakura rolled her eyes and simply opened the gate instead. They walked through, as Naruto landed next to them.

"Show off," Sasuke, and Sakura muttered simultaneously. Surprisingly enough another voice added to their own, but the person wasn't talking about Naruto.

They scooted closer to the middle of the training grounds and saw Kakashi-Sensei fighting against a guy with black hair. But the strange thing was that Kakashi-Sensei was dressed rather oddly.

"That's Obito fighting against Kakashi-Sensei. But Sensei, is not moving like he normally does," Sakura noted, watching as the Copy-Nin moved in a smug superior way that wasn't overly cautious. It could have simply been because of his chakra exhaustion or the fact that Obito wasn't doing so well against him.

"Obito? Who's that?" Sasuke asked, watching dark-haired one's attitude.

"Sparring is over for today. But if you'd like you could see if our observers want to spar against you," A happy but cheerful voice suggested out of nowhere. Sakura and Naruto glanced around trying to locate the voice, but when they failed, Sasuke took over. But the voice already stood in front of them, so there was little need of Sasuke's search efforts by use of the Sharingan.

"Are these your teammates?" Minato asked looking at the other two with a pleased expression, "And this I suppose is Naruto?"

"How did you know my name?" Naruto asked in wonderment. _Did this guy read minds or something? Maybe I could corner him and get him to teach me. Wait -what if he was listening in?_

"I ran into your friend here, and at first he thought I was you," Minato explained as Sakura's eyes widened at similarities between Naruto and this new guy. But Minato wasn't finished, "It's not surprising since, you do slightly resemble myself. And the Uchiha. . . I didn't get your name earlier."

Sakura's mind was weaving furiously the odd coincidences and the facts learned in the academy. This guy looked familiar but she didn't know where from. It was closely connected to something but she couldn't think of nodded, figuring out that Sasuke had encountered this guy when they were still lost. He thought about the sparring that the blond guy had mentioned, and didn't pay attention when Sasuke introduced the others.

"My name's Minato, and I already know your names, since two of my students, Obito and Rin already told me," the Jounin told them, "And here are my students coming now."

The closer the trainees came, the more Minato wished they would hurry up, but Kakashi was dragging behind as he figured it would be boring. He was always acting smug. . . It was a wonder that his cockiness hadn't gotten him into any as Kakashi-Sensei came closer, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke gasped. It was indeed Hatake Kakashi, but his Sharingan eye was missing and he looked as if he was the same age as them. Their minds couldn't quite piece together what that meant, just yet but they were getting closer.

"What are these amateurs doing here? They should be preparing for when they are sent on the battlefield," Kakashi asked coldly. He glanced at each of them and dismissed them one by one. The blond seemed hot-blooded with the way he was glaring at him. The girl, looked as if she was weak even though he noted that the medical kit she was carrying informed him she was a medic ninja. And as for the Uchiha, the member of that clan were smug enough without putting any added arrogance to them.

"Why you-" Naruto shouted loudly as he rushed at Kakashi. He might look like Kakashi-Sensei but it wasn't him. Quickly Sakura pounded him on the head.

"You idiot! Do you really want to insult them?" Sakura screeched holding the riled up teammate back. Sasuke was barely holding onto his control, but luckily his emotions was not evident in his jet black eyes.

"Sorry about that. Kakashi's just a bit irritated that our team hasn't been selected yet to get involved in the war. The war might even be considered the Third Great Ninja War, if it keeps up," Explained Rin, brushing back her reddish-brown hair and glancing at Kakashi every so often.

But Sakura didn't notice, because she was in a state of shock. _What was she talking about? Was that really Kakashi? Why was she talking about the Third Great Ninja War? Was she simply mistaken? _Sakura stayed staring at all of them in disbelief, but she didn't want to show how startled she was. She glanced at her teammates, who were more concerned that Rin introduced the silver haired teen as Kakashi.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Enjoy. . .

* * *

"But you're welcomed to train with us. I'm sick and tired of Kakashi acting all superior," Obito said crossing his arms and pouting. He glared at Kakashi who answered smartly.

"Yet, I always tend to defeat you during training."

"That's it! I can't take it!" Obito roared reaching out with both hands in order to strangle him. But Minato held on fast to his arms and held him back. "C'mon guys, we have to work together. We're a team," Rin intervened waving her hands to stop their fights. Obito stopped struggling and sighed.

Sasuke was thinking on the lines that this Uchiha was not acting like he thought a Uchiha would act. Sakura was rather impressed on how well Rin handled the agitation of her team. As for Naruto his was still fuming on how Kakashi-Sensei had treated them as beginners.

"Um, we don't have enough time to train with you guys. We have to find our Sensei," Sakura put in, as she dragged her irritated teammates with her. She rushed them outside the training grounds and breathed deeply.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asked, feeling disappointed he couldn't spar with the silver haired kid. He had met Rin earlier, but he figured they were pulling some sort of prank when they introduced that guy as Kakashi-Sensei.

"Don't you get it? All this time, we've been in the past. It's the only solution. Obito is alive, because the Uchiha Massacre hasn't happened yet and Kakashi doesn't have the other eye. . . Why doesn't he have the Sharingan eye yet?," Sakura rambled, the facts all scrambling around as she proposed ideas and theories on what had happened to them, "Never mind. . . The important thing is, we're in the past and we got to find the older Kakashi. Our Kakashi who is our actual Sensei from the present. And I suppose we came to the past because some sort of random portal that only opens so many years."

"My head hurts! Stop talking about it!" Naruto shouted, rubbing his head as the information bombarded him. All of her ideas were simply, theories and they hadn't been proven.

"We're in the past, dobe. Of course you wouldn't understand. You barely paid any attention in class," Sasuke responded, not admitting he was as lost as well, "Either way we got to find Kakashi-Sensei or we're doomed."

"Where could he be? He has to be here somewhere. . . Kak-!" Naruto struggled to free himself from the hands wrapped around his mouth, and glared at the offender, "What the heck was that all about Sasuke!?"

"You're such an idiot. Don't you get it? If we start yelling out his name, the other him would come running instead. And he would be puzzling why we're calling him sensei," Sasuke explained sighing to himself as he crossed his arms. He stared up at the sky and looked toward his fellow teammates, "First off, let's check the usual places Kakashi-Sensei would be. Like his habitual visiting places."

"The memorial Stone! The Hokage's office! Ichiraku?" Naruto named off, counting on his fingers the places sensei would most likely be, "The training grounds? Ugh this is harder than it seems and what if he's not there? What next?"

"Kakashi-Sensei's smart; he's very likely to stay put in one spot in order for us to find him. And she'll find a very appropriate meeting place where we would usually go to find him," Sakura analyzed, as her green eyes blazed with triumph, "Or where he thinks we would go."

"Perfect! We go to Ichiraku!"

"This is gonna be a long day," Sasuke muttered under his breath, putting his hands into his pockets and following behind the cheerful skipping Naruto and the determined cherry blossom.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his teammates with a sudden realization. Carefully he looked them straight in the face and asked, "Where's Sai?"

* * *

They had finally found the familiar green gates leading toward Konoha. Both were almost sweating in relief that they had found their way home.

Ayame was completely preoccupied with thoughts of concern. She worried over the fact that at any moment her beloved crush could collapse again. She kept stumbling a few times as she followed after him, but that was only because Ayame had been intently watching him for any signs of pain or likeliness that he would fall over. But as he appeared to be well and back in control of his body, she relaxed and started noticing specific things about Konoha that had changed.

At first nothing too eye-catching had changed. A couple of food carts wasn't where she usually saw them, but Ayame just figured they had gone to some other place to serve their treats and goodies. Or perhaps they were taking a off day. But when she noted that one of her favorite supply store had vanished she knew something was up. There couldn't have been that much of remodeling in such a short timeframe.

Ayame felt her tenseness fade away when she saw her father's Ramen Stand where it always was but then spotted something missing that she knew would never be messed with. The Hokage Monuments were missing two very important people. The Fourth Hokage and the Fifth Hokage.

Shocked, Kakashi looked about everywhere trying to reason with himself that this had to be a trick or an illusion. He didn't dare to believe that this place to be real. If Kakashi started to think that this was real and found out later that it was only a Genjutsu, he would be heartbroken. But if it was real and only if, than all his dreams had come true so very suddenly. But not to delude himself into falling for it, Hatake Kakashi pulled up the headband hiding the red haze of the Sharingan and it sharply revealed the impossible. It was all very real, and Kakashi was numb and all of a sudden he could not feel anything. Not happiness nor despair.

"Are you okay, Kakashi-kun?" Ayame asked rather shyly as she watched her crush react with what was unbelievable but so very true.

Kakashi snapped out of his emotionless state, and felt his emotions flood back in a swarm of feeling. He felt bitter regret, but he also felt the strong sense of hope after all. There was another chance after all and he was going to take it. He didn't care if it changed the past; besides it would be for the better anyways if those precious ones survived after all.

"For the very first time, I think I will be fine," Kakashi answered the sweet ramen girl, as he pulled his headband back down and gazed at the old village with a bit of dread but also with a slight bit of joy that he will see them once again without staring at a memorial stone and picturing them from only pieces of torn memory that never faded from his dreams.

* * *

"Where have you been?!" shouted Naruto while Sakura discreetly plugged her ears to avoid any damage to them. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her reaction, thinking that after all this time, Sakura should have been used to the dobe's loud and obnoxious voice.

"Can you get any louder?" Sasuke muttered, annoyed and frustrated at the whole situation while he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was not a patient person and he just wanted to get this whole explanation over with. He never particularly cared about Sai and Sasuke wasn't going to start any time soon.

"Never mind that. . . We have to find Kakashi-Sensei. The older one, mind you," Sakura stepped in, her hands on her hips while she greeted Sai with a smile. Every so often he would gaze off into the distance and then suddenly blink and focus in on the conversation. Sakura noting this asked kindly, "Have you realized we are in the past Sai? Is something wrong?"

"We're in the past? Then it couldn't be-", Sai stopped and pondering on who he had seen only a few minutes before he rushed to the famous Ichiraku to seek out his other teammates. He had easily accepted Sakura's information, for she was a horrible liar. Sai figured that he must have imagined the whole situation with that person. Otherwise things would just not make sense. . .

"What are you blabbing on about?" Sasuke irritably asked rudely as he glanced about, "Kakashi should have been here by now. He's still as late as ever."

"And he'll have a ridiculous excuse too," Sakura commented dryly shaking her head while Naruto agreed while ordering a bowl of miso ramen. She looked toward him exasperatedly and only got a odd look in return.

"What? I might as well," Naruto replied turning his gaze to the much younger Teuchi who had a little girl perched on top of the counter. It was odd seeing the old man so young but it seemed like he would just have to get used to it.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Enjoy. It took me some time but here's the next chapter.

* * *

Sasuke just watched on in amusement, a smirk appearing on his face as he watched Sakura admonish Naruto when he started to stuff his face like a pig. He enjoyed days like this for it brought back so many memories of the good days even if at the time he didn't appreciate it.

"You are so obnoxious sometimes!" Sakura said pursing her lips and shaking her finger at Naruto who was trying his best to ignore her even if that might be a deadly thing to do, "We're trying to find Kakashi-Sensei and you're just pushing more food in. How are you supposed to be watching for Kakashi if you keep distracting yourself with ramen?"

"And how you keeping an eye out for Hatake-San if you are distracting yourself with your constant . . . Nagging, is it?" Sai asked reasonably smiling his usual smile and watching how Sakura responded although not in the usual fashion he had read in a book. Not with a polite smile or an answer. No, Sakura responded with a sudden twitch to her mouth and eye and then promptly burrowing her fist into his own face.

Carefully wiping the blood from his lips, Sai stared at Sakura and decided to ask Sasuke why since he doubted that Naruto would comprehend why Sakura had punished him. Especially since Naruto was usually the victim in Sakura's violent acts of rage. Sai opened his mouth and once again asked yet another question, " Why does she not simply answer? She usually answers questions you ask. . . Is there a reason for her homicidal actions?"

Sasuke wasn't sure if that last comment was more of an insult to Sakura or a subtle attack on himself. As if anyone answering his questions would be deadly. He was not a traitor anymore and even if Sai hadn't phrased the comment that way, he still felt anger sharp and bitter in his mouth. He felt murderous intentions swell in his mind and he damped it down before snarling low and dangerously, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah! What's that supposed to mean? I'm too vicious for you? I'll show you vicious?" growled Sakura, her sharp teeth showing and glinting brutishly. She curled her fist and dared Sai to answer her, "Answer, me Sai."

Before Sai could attempt to answer, a hand covered his mouth while Naruto hissed loudly in his ear, "Keep quiet! I'm trying to save your life!"

"I see you have all found something entertaining to do," a chuckling voice cut in dryly, which quickly allowed Sakura to calm herself down before she hurt the others. Sakura paused in mid-step and smiled a grateful and relieved smile.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Shouted Naruto, noodles hanging from the corner of his mouth while chopsticks rested in his lifted hand. Sakura threw herself into her teacher's arms and hugged him while Kakashi awkwardly patted her gently on the top of her head before ruffling her hair. She let go and smiled a warm smile.

"We're so glad to see you, " Sakura responded for them all since Naruto had his mouth full and the other two were being silent like usual. She didn't know why they were in the past but if anyone knew it would be Kakashi so she asked, "What's going on? Why are we here?"

Kakashi sighed and looked toward the sky as if asking for some sort of answer to all his problems. But unluckily there was none or at least not any he could understand. He looked toward his young students who were hoping for an answer, even Sasuke even though he tried hiding it. Kakashi glanced toward Ayame who was also waiting for an answer and a light red glow rose on her cheeks and her teeth started to dig harshly at her lips when she caught Kakashi's gaze on her. He chuckled and sighed again. It looked like everything was aspiring against him. Even his hormones, which at the moment was begging him to taste her softly glowing blush before quickly tasting those luscious red lips of hers which would bruise if she wouldn't stop biting them. Kakashi shook his head, knowing that he had to lay off the Icha Icha Paradise series before he gave in to temptations.

"-And I suppose that's what happened to us," Sakura reported recalling all the steps as she counted each on her fingers. She glanced toward her teacher and noted that he wasn't listening. She was about to say something but Naruto did it for her.

"Are you even listening? We have no clue to how we got stuck in the past!" Shouted Naruto finally finishing up his ramen and scooting down from his seat before pointing accusingly at his teacher.

Kakashi discovered that he had waited a bit too long in answering. He had gotten lost in a world devoted to his thoughts and that wasn't always such a good idea. Sheepishly, he scratched at his head, "Sorry, what was that, Naruto? I wasn't paying attention."

Naruto's eyes started to twitch and Kakashi was getting concerned. _Did he have an eye problem? _He noticed that obvious it must be contagious for Naruto's mouth was twitching along with his hands.

"Is something wrong? Are you developing some sort of Nervous Tension Disorder or something?" Kakashi asked concerned as he studied Naruto for some sort of sign of what was going on. Nope, he had no clue but whatever it was, it was getting worse for it had spread to the others except for Ayame who was giggling. And Sai, but he didn't count since he was always smiling. The twitching was just not going to stop. But if he ignored it was sure to go away. _After all what was that saying? A watched pot never boils? It was sure to relate to this situation. _As long as he stopped watching, the twitching was sure to stop. He hoped so anyways.

"Are you going to answer our question?" muttered Sasuke showing his annoyance in his jet-black eyes that were cleverly trying to hide his confusion. He stuck his hands back into his pocket and glowered at Kakashi-Sensei.

"Of everyone, you should know the most Sasuke," Kakashi answered mysteriously, his visible eye crinkling before explaining, "It's my Sharingan. And it brought us here probably because lately I've been reminiscing about the past. Too much, actually."

"And how are we supposed to get back home to our time?" Naruto asked indignantly stomping on his feet while Sai pondered over the twitching frenzy Naruto had engaged in and also gave to the others.

Sai noted that anger was obvious the trigger for the twitching so he suggested it outloud, "So Naruto's irritation or uncontrollable anger causes him to twitch. Is the cure confusion? For that usually stops the idiot's twitches."

"Next time I'm not gonna save your life. I'll just let you dig your grave even deeper," Naruto warned, his blue eyes flashing with annoyance. He glanced toward Sakura and motioned with his hands. When she ignored him, Naruto tapped the pink haired teammate and hissed, "That means you can hit him."

"Dobe. . . We're trying to think of way of getting out of here," Sasuke intervened before Sakura could smack the blonde. Boredom was evident in his face.

"I guess we have to wait. Kakashi needs rest before he attempts to use his Sharingan. And since we don't know what exactly happened to cause the time travel we might need to ask someone here who might know," Ayame explained sweetly, her brown eyes glowing with concern. She shook her head wondering how they were supposed to find anyone who would have the knowledge they needed.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

It's been a while. I had a serious case of writer's block.

* * *

"Wait. . . I hate waiting!" Naruto moaned toward his teammates who just basically ignored him. They didn't have time to deal with his impatience. They were way too busy trying to figure a way out of here now instead of later.

"Are you sure there's no other way? It's doubtful that anyone would conveniently know a way to get out of this place," asked Sasuke who brushed a stay strand of hair out of his dark eyes, his voice demanded answers and not willing to yield. He crossed his arms expectedly and glared when no answer was immediately forthcoming. He was starting to get sick and tired of patience.

"Oh, but have you forgotten already? There are two sources we can check out. One is a seal master and it so happens to be someone I know very well. Well, used to anyways," Kakashi threw in carefully smiling a wistful smile, "It's someone you four should automatically know if you remember your shinobi history."

They all stared at him blankly and he figured he should have known they would have forgotten. After all it had been several years since they had been in the academy but still they should have remembered. It would have made his job so much easier. He hated explaining but Kakashi supposed that someone had to do it unless one wanted complete morons running the place once they were grown.

"I'll let you figure it out, but first I believe we are to be escorted directly to the Hokage's," Kakashi announced all of a sudden shaking his head as he felt the chakra presence of a few Anbu. It seemed they didn't qualify them as a major threat but simply a nuisance they would have to handle. But it did come as a surprise on how late they were at showing themselves.

"All of you need to report to the Hokage immediately," stated one particular guard Anbu who stepped out of the shadows to appear in front of them. Naruto stared straight at this masked character and Sakura just blinked her eyes a few time as she tried to focus on the Crow mask the Anbu was wearing. She felt skittish and a bit unprepared which was not like her. But it seemed that Naruto was taking it fine or was that a blank look in his eyes. She understood Sai's reaction since he was basically clueless anyways and the fact that he used to be part of the Anbu.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked towards Kakashi while the other members of the Anbu Black Ops appeared out of various hiding positions. Sasuke's dark eyes were watchful and wary, waiting for a reaction so he could defend himself at a moment's notice. He could feel his fingers tensing toward his kunai pouch and with effort stilled the instinctive action. It would not have a very desired effect if he had attacked. After all these were of the elite class of ninja and were from Konoha if Kakashi's reaction was anything to go by. After all Kakashi had his hands calmly in his pockets while wearing a lazy expression on his face.

"We better go. Besides I was about to talk with the Hokage anyways," Kakashi mentioned as the Anbu studied him for some sort of ulterior motive. Seeing no sign so far they pointed toward the Hokage's office and calmly started to walk towards it. Kakashi immediately started walking after them, pulling out his beloved book while Ayame trailed softly behind.

Team seven leaned forward to see if anything strange was about to happen before switching there gazes to each other to see if the others noted anything odd or unusual. Except for Sai who was shrugging his shoulders and smiling his usual smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders to express utter boredom while muttering, "Whatever."

He started to walk ahead and Naruto cautiously stepped forward a few steps, hesitatingly. He glanced back at Sakura and then straight ahead with his still uncertain expression on his face.

"I knew that Naruto was a girl," Sai stated triumphantly as if he proved something that he had believed all along. Naruto couldn't possibly be a guy with such cowardly actions. Sai started walking somewhat behind Sasuke and did not see Naruto's face light up with anger.

"What did you say?! I'm gonna beat you until you're black and blue!" Naruto shouted shaking his fist and ready to attack Sai. His blue eyes flickered with fury and just when he was about to pounce, someone stopped him with a few choice words.

"Save it. Now's not the time, even though I wouldn't mind doing the same to him," Sasuke interrupted as he turned around and stared accusingly at Naruto as if he was taking up his time, "And stop acting like such a dobe."

Naruto tilted his chin upwards stubbornly and straightened his shoulders. He was not coward and he was gonna prove it to Sai. Sai was a great friend but sometimes he could be so annoying and could easily get Naruto's temper riled up. He was just gonna ignore it for now. And listen to Sasuke's surprisingly good advice. He started walking towards Sasuke who had just recently turned back around. Naruto caught up with him and walked beside him while Sai was busy thinking about Sasuke's words. It didn't make sense to him so he said so.

"But Naruto can not stop being a dobe just like you can not help being a traitor," Sai commented smiling while inside he pondered why Sasuke's face was turning cool and remote while his fingers tightened and curled into fists. His dark eyes stared at back at Sai with icy contempt. Everyone who had common sense would have known. Anyone else would know that it was dangerous to their health to say it. Even Naruto and the rest of Team Seven knew that the word 'traitor' was not to be spoken. It was a silent understanding that obviously Sai never picked up. 'Traitor' was a taboo word around any of Team Seven. For none of them wanted to even remember that long time ago when Sasuke left. Sometimes they would talk about it but no one would come right out and say the dreaded word. But it was especially taboo around Sasuke who would cause severe pain to the one who spoke it towards him.

"Don't ever say that again," Sasuke snarled viciously, his canines showing with every growled word while his nails dug into his palm. His loosened his grip and let his hands fall to his side deciding just this once he would let it go but only because Sai was a part of Team Seven. But he would quickly go ahead and fight him if it happened again. Perhaps during training he could switch partners and deal some hits to him, "You're not even worth it."

Sai looked puzzled and Naruto was sighing with relief that it was all over before saying, "I can't believe you are still alive! You sure are lucky."

Sai shrugged with confusion and glanced behind where Sakura was and decided to call out, "You better hurry H- I mean-Sakura-chan!"

Sakura nervously followed unaware of the tension a few moments before. She stepped forward, her hands gripping the edges of her skirt as she complied with Sai's wishes. With churning unrest easing through her mind, she felt uneasy and not at all confident. She worried about how much trouble they would be in especially since this was a past with a different Hokage and she didn't know which one. Sakura followed behind the others, trying to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other without thinking of anything else. But sadly it wasn't working for her. She kept worrying.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

Whew, this was much harder chapter than I thought and it still doesn't have much of the explanation. Enjoy

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In the street as they passed on by, people would open their doors to get a quick glance while pedestrians stopped and stared at them and their escorts. Even if it was highly humiliating, all of Team seven held their head up high. But poor Ayame was scared out of her wits, and kept fiddling with her hand and making sure to keep her hair blocking the view to her face. She could feel her face flare up with embarrassment and she was completely terrified. Ignorance was bliss, but not if one did not know what was going to happen. After all, it was not just every day that someone was sent to the higher ups in a ninja village. In a ninja village, the punishment could be highly severe and Ayame was dreading what their suspicions were. She would be a lot happier if she knew what to expect or at least what not to worry about.

Nervously, she attempted to stop twittering her fingers like some idiot girl, and hopelessly tangled them into her skirt. Ayame had to stop in the middle of the street and stare at her fingers before she even twisted her fingers free of their entrapment. When warm fingerless gloves touched her hand she glanced up and realized that Hatake Kakashi had placed his fingers over hers. He patted them and gently lifted her fingers and discreetly placed them at her side. He gently lifted her chin and she blushed as she saw him wink, or was that actually a blink? She couldn't really tell with the forehead protector the way it was.

"Don't worry so hard. What will happen will happen. What we can do is to have courage to get through it," Kakashi whispered into her ear before quickly taking his place in front of her with his arms dropped at his side. She sighed and tried not to lower her head in defeat. The suspense just was getting to her and every so often, she would feel a strange set of eyes gazing towards her and the others. She shivered and simply walked onward to the Hokage's with a slight hint of fear in her heart. She just couldn't not worry and she doubted that any of the others could follow her crush's advice although wise.

* * *

Sometimes one has to go directly by the book, step by step and follow each and every order properly and correctly. But considering that time travel was not an every day occurrence that no one in their right mind would believe, Kakashi doubted that going along with the usual methods of going through the usual plans would not work. But ninja's did sometimes believe in the unexpected but probably not this unexpected. It was way too much of a very unexpected change. So Kakashi decided to wing it and besides it always seemed to work well for Naruto, didn't it?

At least that was what he was telling himself while he entered the Hokage's Office. Thankfully only he was to officially talk with the Hokage while the others waited outside. He wasn't sure what he would have done if one of the others had followed in as well. Especially Naruto who would have not understood what Kakashi would have done.

"Who are you?" The Third Hokage asked suspiciously as he sat at his cluttered desk with a pipe in one hand. Kakashi suddenly felt his throat clog up and he never realized on how much relief he had that the old man was still alive. He never even realized on how much he missed the old geezer until he stood before him. The Third was watching him with wary eyes and Kakashi knew he had to start speaking before he could suspect something but the Hokage decided to speak again, "And why do you have a Konoha headband that we have no record of?"

Kakashi winced softly at the fierce demanding tone and replied with what he thought was needed since he knew that the truth was just not gonna cut it, "I'm not sure. I have been away quite some time."

"And what about those others that were with you?"

Kakashi sweat dropped wondering why he was switching subjects so fast. Was it to catch him in a lie by rapidly asking questions? He didn't know but he had to get the Hokage to believe it at least partly. It felt horrible deceiving him like this but it had to be done.

"Well, let's just say that four of them stumbled upon me and became my students. And the young lady just needed a simple escort," Kakashi said vaguely, moving his hands around to emphasize his words. The Third Hokage looked half-way amused at this but obviously wanted to learn a bit more about the curious visitors that had showed up. It wasn't every day that someone would just show up. . . Well at least without a more believable and normal explanation. It almost reminded him of the complaints that one of Minato's students had about one of their teammates excuses. He chuckled silently in his head at the thought.

"Explain,"

When he heard those words, Kakashi knew he had a hard time ahead of him. Especially since he couldn't tell the exact truth but only small bits and pieces that deviated from the truth. Either way he would have to think of something and something quick and he had also had to memorize it so the story would not change over time. After all that was the oldest trick in the book and he certainly did not want to fall for that old-fashioned one. Was he never going to get a moment of peace? Obviously not with how things were going. And it would have worked for Naruto but just not in the way he wanted.

* * *

"I'm not sure whether to trust you yet but you will be able to stay here until said otherwise. But my guards will keep an eye on you if you cause reason for suspicions," The Third Hokage declared, while carefully watching him for a bad reaction. But none came which was quite surprising if the other ninja was a spy from another land," I believe you understand where you will be staying, is that correct?"

"Yes, Hokage," Kakashi bowed walking out of the office in a respectful manner before hurrying back to the others that were probably impatiently waiting. The Third shook his head wondering what that one was up to. And he couldn't determine if he was a threat or not but if he was, the Third decided that he would find out soon enough if not sooner. And then his own eyes widened with astonishment at his sudden realization. And he chuckled out loud wondering if it was what the ninja had been planning on.

"I can't believe I didn't remember to ask for his name," he murmured quietly to himself as he laid down his pipe while repeatedly thumping his fingers on the desk with his other hand, "But it shouldn't really matter if I knew it. It wouldn't change anything."

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

This one took a while but at least it's now out. Enjoy

* * *

It was quiet. Almost too quiet but the silence was golden. Fresh sweet relief swept through the tall proud Shinobi and he barely refrained from sagging against the door after he shut it behind him. His heart pounding viciously, Kakashi felt it slowly return back to its usual calm rhythm. He had somehow escaped severe punishment for him and his team and he was not sure what that meant. It should have been nearly impossible to get the Hokage to trust him; after all it was extremely suspicious that a ninja who mysteriously showed up, insisted that he was a Konoha ninja despite that there was no physical evidence of it in the records.

Kakashi struggled to decipher the reasons why the Third Hokage would trust him and wondered if it had anything whatsoever to do with the Third's comment that he had a remarkable resemblance to a Hatake who went by the name of Sakumo. Could the strong resemblance of his father and himself, convinced the Hokage in some way? Or was it not that at all, but only the realization that one of Kakashi's students was of the prestige clan of the Uchiha's? He didn't truly know but those were some more obvious assumptions that he had thought might explain it all or at least the trust issues. If Kakashi had been in the Hokage's place he would have not given himself any lenience.

"Kakashi-Sensei, Kakashi-Sensei," A voice broke him away from his thoughts. He looked toward them and chuckled, seeing an apprehensive look upon his students' faces which had cleared away when he had finally snapped to attention. But when he glanced at Ayame, he saw a strong sense of concern on her face and in every move she made. She was trying not to reach out to see if he was okay. Her look of concern had lessened some what but not completely and Kakashi was not happy about that.

He wanted to smooth away all her worries and see her smiling and laughing with those beautiful creamy brown eyes that would turn to gold when the sunlight shone. He shook away those thoughts and Kakashi knew he better start explaining to the others before he started to think about relationships. Relationships never ended well and would only end in bitter heartache and pain. It would do him no good to think about anything like that. Besides he was too broken inside for a relationship like that. He was a loner and he would die a loner.

"KAKAS-"Naruto started to shout before Sakura and Sasuke clamped their hands over his revealing mouth while Naruto waved his hands frantically about. His big blue eyes glaring at his teammates, Naruto struggled and strained against the hands and finally he latched on to them with his own hands and attempted to pry them loose from his mouth.

"Shut it, Naruto, before you give something away," hissed Sakura giving Naruto a warning look from her glittering green eyes. He stilled at the deadly glance she gave him and seeing this as an agreement on his part the other two let go of him.

"What's your problem?" Naruto asked indignantly, rubbing at his face before crossing his arms and glaring at both of them, although he did glare more at Sasuke. He blinked his eyes in understanding when he thought about what they were trying to tell him and smiled sheepishly. He had almost given away the important secret about their teacher's name. But he still wasn't sure why he couldn't say it but they could.

Sai felt like this was an excellent time to learn how to defend a friend. After all didn't Naruto say earlier that he had somehow saved him? He wasn't sure what from but Sai was determined to repay him somehow. Sai opened his mouth and injected his own words into the conversation, "Naruto can not help his own stupidity, after all that is all he's ever known."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto yelled shaking his fist at Sai who only blinked twice and twisted his head sideways. Sai shrugged and was about to say something probably just as rude except Sasuke answered Naruto instead.

"It means you're an idiot and a loser. And worse than Sai at times," Sasuke answered in his low deep voice, his own features reserved and in control while his jet black eyes stared straight towards Naruto as if expecting an explosion which soon came.

"Hey! Sasuke-Teme! I am not a loser!!" Naruto shouted straight back which soon turned into a battle when Sasuke quickly snuck in a reply.

"Yet you agree that you are an idiot?" Sasuke scoffed, his eyes hinting lightly at his amusement yet Naruto still caught on and was furious that Sasuke was basically laughing at him.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled, gnashing his teeth together and lowering his voice to dangerous low levels in his next words," I'm gonna throttle you!"

Naruto glanced toward his sensei to see if he was watching or not and then sweat dropped when he realized his teacher was intent on a very familiar little book and not even paying any attention to any of them. At least he knew the close was clear. Naruto nodded while at the same time made a fist and jammed it into his other hand. But somehow he must not be doing something right since Sasuke stared back at him with a bored look, not even affected by his effort at intimidation. Naruto sneered and with anger rushing to his head jumped and was swiftly pulled back by his collar. He tried to shake free but when he realized his feet didn't touch the air, Naruto glanced back and froze when he realized Kakashi was the one holding him up with only one hand. _How strong was Sensei?_

"Why is it that I have to separate you every couple of minutes because of some sort of fight? I almost feel as if this is more aggravating then Gai asking me about some new insane challenge he thought might push him past me. Almost being the word," Kakashi asked shaking his head and about to gently lowering Naruto to the ground; although there was a thought in his head about just dropping him. Maybe he would just drop him.

"Hey!" Naruto screeched as he pulled himself out of the dust and quickly dusting himself off as quickly as he could. Kakashi gave him a blank answer and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well we better get going before it gets too dark," Kakashi reported, glancing remotely at the sunset sky before walking off in one direction. He glanced back and lifted one eyebrow as if to say if they were coming or not. When they all trudged in behind him, he started to stroll down the sidewalk.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

I hope you enjoy. Even if this chapter took awhile.

* * *

Sasuke felt his heart race and he eyed his surroundings with suspicious eyes. He could feel the shivers race their way towards his neck and knew something was going on. He just had a gut feeling that someone was watching them and might even be following them. It might have been the Anbu but it didn't make sense that they would allow themselves to be known.

He could tell Naruto and Sakura noticed that something was a bit off for they looked uneasy and nervous. As for Sai, who knew what he was feeling about the situation? Although he had a curious expression on his face that looked like apprehension.

No there had to be someone else. Someone who either had some trouble at hiding themselves or either was wanting someone to remotely sense them. But then on the other hand in could be a recently trained Anbu who wasn't up to the challenge of being one of the top elites.

Sasuke smiled conceitedly at the thought and watched as Kakashi-Sensei finally stopped for a moment in the middle of the street before picking up the pace again. Sasuke's eyes twitched when he realized what had just happened. His pervert of a teacher had to turn a page in his book and had to stop for a second or so before continuing. Jet black eyes glaring at his teacher, Sasuke muttered under his breath and kept walking on. Yet it kept getting later and later and eventually Sasuke had to stifle a few yawns and try mostly to stay awake by blinking his eyes every so often. He was getting tired and weary and he just wanted to be in a nice comfortable bed or even a futon. Even sleeping on the ground was sounding nice about now. Sasuke believed that it wouldn't be long before his Sensei decided to settle down somewhere.

But as minute after minute passed, Sasuke was beginning to feel like it would never happen. Irritation riled up his black mood but somehow managed to keep it under wraps until Naruto accidentally stumbled and kicked back a stone. Dutifully Sasuke avoided it hitting him directly in the face by jumping swiftly to the side. He felt slightly smug that even when his reactions were slower and not at their peak, he could still get out of the way of anything in time. Yet annoyance dug at him that Naruto could still be so clumsy.

"Watch it, dobe!" Sasuke ordered, his black mood growing with every step he took. Naruto just looked back at him with a dirty look and when the idiot turned back around he ran straight into Sakura, not noticing that the whole group finally stopped after what seemed like after eternity. Sakura gave him small glare while Sasuke half smirked. Soon Kakashi spun around to face the group and slowly put away his trusty book back into its regular place at his side.

"Sensei, where are we going?" Sakura hesitated before shaking her pink locks and raised her chin in determination, "And what happened earlier? We were so worried! We wasn't sure as to what to expect! Or even if you would get out of there alive! I mean- what if the other ninja decided you were a threat and just-"

Seeing that with every word she spoke, she was scaring Ayame who was paler than normal, Kakashi stopped Sakura's outburst by quickly startling her by pulling out a few old rusty keys and tossing one at her. Sakura started to twiddle it in her hand as if confused and just stared at it while the others gathered around her and wondered why he was handing out keys, of all things. He passed out the other keys and watched as each blinked their eyes and glanced up at him for an explanation.

" The Hokage accepted us here but not without precautions or watchful eyes," the silver-haired Jounin answered before focusing one brown eye on them. He studied their reactions and right on schedule came Naruto's outburst.

"What? How can she not trust us?! After all, Baa-chan-" Naruto started to steam before his burning blue eyes died down to a sudden calmness. He glanced up at his teacher and with a seriousness asked, "It's not the Fifth is it? It's not her. . . It's the old man isn't it?"

"We're in the past, so-" Sakura started off before slowing down and glancing over at Sasuke who hadn't moved since Naruto's speech. He was still but in a moment he appeared to be back to normal but Sakura could tell that he wasn't just by the fact that his hands were slightly trembling.

"So the Third is alive," Sasuke finished for Sakura, clenching his fists tightly around the old key before releasing the tension in his hands. Sakura wanted to soothe him somehow but she only fiddled with her own key, knowing Sasuke wasn't the type to allow affection of any sort. Even more so after he came back. So she highly doubted he would allow any hugs of comfort, probably believing it was too close to cuddling coming from her.

" What are we supposed to do now?" Ayame asked, nervously smoothing down some wrinkles in her skirt with one hand while trying desperately not to cry with relief. The Third was very respected among the people and even with such major responsibilities would spend time with them. She glanced up toward Kakashi to see his reaction and blushed when her eyes met his lone one. Redness tinged her cheeks but that didn't stop her from swiftly turning her gaze away. _How embarrassing!_

"Well, before we do anything, I might need to say where we will be staying," Kakashi advised switching his gaze to the others before pointing at a hotel across the street, " And seeing that it's a place of the Hokage's choosing, we will be watched."

"It's like we're on probation or something," groaned Naruto who swiftly yawned afterwards, "But I'm too tired to care at the moment. I just want to get some sleep!"

"Naruto! Be quiet. People are sleeping!" Sakura scolded in a half raised voice, trying to keep her voice down as she glanced about to see if he woke anyone.

"Probably not for long with your voice, Sakura," Sai smoothly interjected with a big smile, "It grates on one's mind."

"If it wasn't so late, I would hurt you for that" hissed Sakura trying to get away from him before she gave in to that thought. She crossed the street after Naruto who had already gotten a head start. Ayame was coming directly behind Sakura and Sai was right behind Ayame. Sakura turned to see if Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei was coming but noticed that Kakashi-Sensei had stopped Sasuke. She shrugged her shoulders and figured that they must have something to important to talk about. She would ask Sasuke what it was about later unless she fell asleep first.

" Good night!" Sakura waved at them knowing that Sasuke would not wave back, but she did get a nod from him which was much better than one of his usual smirks. Sakura smiled and turned to go, stretching her arms and heading inside. At least she wouldn't be the only female this time.

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

Here's a much longer chapter than usual. It took some time especially with the stubborness of the characters. Thanks to all the readers and reviewers. Please enjoy.

* * *

Sakura rapped her knuckles on the door a few times, and quickly jerked it back when the door pulled opened all of a sudden.

"Yes?" Ayame asked staring at her with eyes filled with curiosity before realization hit her. She smiled and assumed she was there for one reason, "Couldn't sleep could you?"

Stretching her arms over her head and letting out a great big sigh, Sakura closed her green eyes and nodded before lowering her hands, "Not with everything that has happened. It's hard trying to get asleep when my minds loaded with so many thoughts."

Ayame motioned her in and very quickly Sakura settled down on the couch with a small yawn. Ayame just smiled wryly and headed toward her dresser where she had put her brush down after the interruption. Grabbing it she moved toward the couch and before she could even think about sitting down, yet another knock appeared at her door. But it seemed that Sakura got there first.

Naruto stood there with his wide mouth opened into a yawn before he explained, "Hey, Sakura! I tried knocking at your door but you weren't in there. So-"

Sakura sighed and shook her pink hair, "Would you like to come in? But keep in mind you can't stay for long, Naruto."

Naruto sheepishly grinned and scooted in. Sakura knew he was there for the same exact reason. But if Sai also showed up, she was going to make sure that he wouldn't come in unless he was half-way polite. Closing the door she turned around and suddenly found out that Naruto was fast asleep on one side of the simple old -dropping, Sakura blinked her eyes a few time and gaped at him. She shared a shocked glance at Ayame and then rolled her eyes.

"I guess he was sleepier then he thought he was," Ayame suggested laughing gently, stroking her brown hair with gentle strokes with her brush. She smiled down at the tired boy on her couch. He was such a sweet soul and he always seemed so energetic usually. But she supposed with all that had happened, Naruto had a perfect excuse for being so tired after such a long tiring day. He was just like a little kid, she believed even if he insisted he was all shrugged at her reply and tried to avoid shaking her head once again at her teammate's strange actions. She would never understand boys especially if every single one of them had a different type of personality.

* * *

"What!? You've got to be kidding," Sasuke issued with a harsh low sound in his voice. Moments ago, he had been so tired and now he was completely wide awake and angry. He struggled at holding in his rage at the injustice and attempted to get his voice back to its usual emotionless flat tone. The Uchiha narrowed his dark eyes and glowered while trying to keep his eyes from switching to Sharingan. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be. And the last thing he wanted was to show he had little control over his own bloodline trait.

Kakashi sighed, stuck his gloved hands in his pocket and stared up into the dark star filled sky. He glanced back down at the angry teen and shook his head, "He just wants to keep a closer eye on you. After all you are an unregistered Uchiha on the loose. What better way to watch you then have others of your clan watch you. . ?"

"What about you?" Sasuke growled with a sharp edge embedded in his voice while his eyes reflected barely controlled fury. He asked his sensei a question and he wanted an answer, "Where are you staying . . . Kakashi?"

The silver-haired Jounin let out a long breath. It was just his luck to have irony staring him straight in the face. He had finally managed to have one student call him by his name without sensei but it was only because Sasuke wanted to be disrespectful. He could never get a break. He shifted his weight to his other leg and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them once more.

Kakashi straightened his relaxed position and stared straight ahead at Sasuke with narrowed serious eyes, " In the same exact Uchiha district. But you will have much more freedom than I will. I guarantee that."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and crossed his arms over his chest with almost flat look in his eyes, "I'm done with this conversation. Let's get going already."

He transported away and Kakashi swiftly followed a few moments afterwards. In mere seconds they stood at the entrance of the District where two Military Police officers standing against the sides of the wall.

"Ready?" Kakashi-Sensei asked whimsically pulling out a very familiar book that didn't cause a single reaction from Sasuke unless one counted the slight strange twitching in his eyes.

"As I'll ever be," Sasuke muttered throwing one hand over his face and slightly trying to hold on to any dignity he had left. Carefully closing his eyes and ignoring his perverted Sensei, he walked forward with Kakashi-Sensei walking among side him. With every step he took, brought him that much closer to the fact he was returning Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his hands tightly together to avoid any reflecting thoughts on memories that would be best to be forgotten. But the closer he got toward the place that he had gotten used to hearing nothing but a bleak silence, the more Sasuke tensed when he heard voices chattering and small bouts of laughter every so often coming from inside the district. The return of life to the district shook him more than he could admit but Sasuke quickly masked his emotional impact by retreating behind a look of disdain and disregard.

And with a sneer Sasuke glanced at the two guards coming towards them. When they came a bit closer, he scoffed when they attempted an introduction. The military guards stepped forward with menacing warnings in their eyes as they greeted the two. But determined to get things underhand and finished with, the Military Police officers shuffled their feet with impatience.

"Let's go," One of the guards issued curtly, intent on escorting them to their destination without any mishaps. The other guard grunted and narrowed his eyes at Sasuke before shifting his wary attention to Kakashi who was still intently reading his book.

"Lead the way," Kakashi Hatake answered swiftly, half closing his book to glance at the officers whose eyes registered curiosity and a bit of confusion. But Sasuke was used to people regarding Kakashi as a bit strange and usually that meant either a more cautious or a more relaxed underestimating view of his sensei.

"Let's just get this over with," Sasuke muttered as they followed the guards through the middle of the district where people went about their busy lives as they prepared for bed. He stuck his hands in his pocket with a bored expression on his face, keeping his emotions in check as he passed through. An hour ago Sasuke had been so sleepy, he didn't think anything would keep him from falling asleep. But obviously life decided it would get a kick out of him by forcing these twisting turns down his throat. Now he knew he had a long sleepless night ahead of him.

* * *

"I can't believe how heavy he is!" Sakura grunted lifting Naruto by his head while Ayame held his legs while they shuffled their feet across the hallway floor. Sakura had to use her own individual strength without any helpful chakra to life Naruto. After all, she didn't have the energy to control her any. And she wasn't going to risk her own body to try. But she was very glad that she had someone who could help.

When at last they arrived at their destination, Ayame gave a sigh of relief while Sakura murmured to lay him down gently beside the doorway. With careful ease and measured slowness, they lowered Naruto against the wall and leaned back up with blessed relief. Sakura wiped at her forehead and blew out air and fiddled with the handle of door. But nothing happened, and with blinking eyes glanced towards Ayame and then back to the door handle. Startled, she stared and shook her head before attempting to try once more but when it failed to move even one slight inch, she turned her head and fixed agitated green eyes at Naruto who was busy snoozing away. And the only thing that was apparent to her that she was not going to search him for his key. She would leave him there if that was the case.

"We'll have to leave him here for now," Sakura declared slapping her hands together in a quick motion. She looked around and when she spotted what she was looking for, Sakura marched straight forward and knocked heavily at the door. When no one answered, her eyes twitched and decided to knock again.

"Sai! I know you're in there! Sai!" growled Sakura slamming her fist into the door with an pounding rhythm. Anger pulsed through her when it was clear that he had to be ignoring her, and she beat against the door in a timely manner.

"Yes?"

Normally as an astute ninja, Sakura should have sensed that someone was coming up behind her but being on the late hour and her distracted nature, she didn't even notice when Sai snuck up behind her. Spinning around to face him Sakura blew out steam and blinked her eyes, Sai tilted his head sideways and studied her expression with a curious light in his eyes.

"Yes?" answered Sai once more, trying to figure out what it meant when Sakura's eyes seemed to burn. Maybe she had gotten something in her eyes such as lemon or lime juice, "Hag, is there something in your eyes or are you expressing signs of friendly emotion?"

"Do you have any way of getting Naruto inside his room?" Sakura asked in an almost strangled voice trying to ease her anger down so she could save it up for tomorrow when she could really pummel him. Unless they weren't allowed but she would find some way of getting permission to do so. She tightened her fists and quickly released them. It was way too late to get into a fight, especially a day like today or tonight if one thought about it.

Sai blinked his eyes and without any emotion or much of any sort of recognized reaction, reached for one of his ink writing utensils and used a slight bit of chakra in order to squirt a slight bit of his Jutsu across the hallway until it slithered up Naruto's door and into the right place which would unlock it. It slid open with a slickness that was slightly irritating. He smiled and asked in a polite voice, "Does that please your mind? I didn't know that it was okay for someone to have that much of a close relationship to someone on the same squad."

" Maybe we should get Naruto into his room before he wakes up," suggested Ayame, nervously looking toward Sakura's angry red face and back to Sai's confused and clueless expression. She shuddered in relief when Sakura refocused her attention on Ayame with a calmer relaxed state.

"By the way Sai, I'm going to hurt you for that insinuation," Sakura remarked offhand, knowing her tiredness was making her more irritable than usual. Or it could be the fact that Sai just simply was clueless on how to keep out of reach of her anger since usually the others were around to keep her from trying to suffocate Sai. She was half-way thankful that Ayame stepped in to stop her before she did something that she would partially regret. With hands lifting Naruto up with his head and shoulders, Sakura quickly shifted him upwards while Ayame quickly grabbed on to his feet.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry about the long wait. Hope this some what longer chapter makes up for most of it.

* * *

The first thing that he noted about the temporary supposed home was a fact he was not at all pleased with. In fact he was completely irritated that they were forced to deal with a old run down house that reminded him more of a hut than anything. It was sturdy enough, Sasuke supposed but not fitting well with what he was more used to.

"Is this it?" Sasuke grunted raised an eyebrow insultingly as if this was the best they could do at a moment's notice. It wouldn't had hurt if some of his clan had attempted to clean up this place especially if it seemed as inhabitable as it looked.

Scowling at the two guards who escorted them, he watched as they scoffed at his bad attitude and left without a word or any type of advice. But obviously they had decided it was a waste of effort as if the guards did not bother worrying about the state of their living quarters. The two guards were probably not even following proper orders but they must not really care about it either. But silently, Sasuke had to admit that it was very late at night and it could be highly probable that the military police officers were just plain tired like himself.

"Well I guess we'd better settle in before dawn breaks," yawned Kakashi as he discreetly tucked his book back into his pocket even though during the walk over the guards had snickered and chuckled at his apparent interest in his book. But hopefully they would not judge him by the way he acted otherwise Konoha was a bit more laid back than he remembered. After all, the worst thing to do was underestimate somebody because of their appearance or attitude. And he hated to think that his students would believe the older generation did not concentrate as much as their own generation. He winced at that thought and wished that was not going to be the case.

The older Shinobi eyed the building with a bit of displeasure but shrugged seeing that it was a whole lot better than a few others places he had the misfortune to stay at over the years during missions. Noting that Sasuke did not see it the same way, the silver-haired Kakashi smiled and shook his head. The younger generation had a lot to learn and yet he himself was learning more and more even now. After all time travel was something that didn't happen every day; in fact there was no account of it ever even happening. Sighing Hatake Kakashi shook his head and glanced up at the sky, wondering if fate was having a nice big laugh over the events.

The night sky was filled with silver stars and eventually it would be dawn before either of them got any sort of sleep. With that in mind Kakashi followed the muttering of the Uchiha to the inside and quickly chose a worn out old room in the way back part of the rickety place. After all with Sasuke's temper, it would be best to pick a spot some what out of the way that would not disturb him with his lack of sleep.

* * *

Snoring gently, a well and very proud Shinobi lay on his belly with his mouth muffled as he mumbled in his light sleep. His legs tangled up in sheets of his bed, the ninja kicked himself free of his entanglement and tried to ignore the loud sounds of high pitched noise sifting through his ears. Groaning and growling under his breath, he lifted himself up regrettably and glared to the annoying offenders who were watching him innocently even though he could still see the evil glint in their eyes.

"I don't like you," Naruto stated with his blue eyes staring fixedly on the two blue birds outside the window looking in. With determination glinting in Naruto's eyes he settled back down and threw his pillow over his head to block out the birds twittering and chirping messages of morning time. When it worked, Naruto smiled a whiskered grin and relaxed his shoulders. But with a loud knock broke through his pillowed defenses, Naruto jerked and tried frantically to keep from falling but failed as the sheets tangled themselves securely around his legs and pulled him down with a tumble and onto the floor with a loud crash.

"Are you awake now?" Sai asked curiously, tilting his head sideways and squinting his eyes to make sure of why his friend was on the floor. With jet-black eyes, Sai studied the room for any clues but when none spoke out to him he glanced behind him where Sakura was snickering at Naruto's situation. And directly behind her in the hall, the ramen girl discreetly covered her mouth with her sleeve to keep from giggling. Recognition lit his eyes and he realized that it was one of those idiotic events that his friend indulged in and nodded in a way he hoped was understanding, "I suppose this is another way you attract bad attention."

"WHAT?!"

Loud thumping noises came from next door while a loud screeching voice followed soon after, "Keep it DOWN over there!"

Slamming his hands over his ears from any damage, Naruto glared and hissed in a much quieter voice, "I don't attract bad attention." He glanced back over from where his neighbor had yelled from and winced before slightly modifying his words, "At least not on purpose."

" I apologize, for not realizing before that it was only to blame on your stupidity," Sai smiled a surprisingly normal smile while nodding his head to his own words without even once glancing at Naruto to notice his negative reactions to them, " I forgive you for not mentioning it before."

"Watch it!" snarled Naruto making his hand into a fist and waving it towards the often clueless member of the team. Sai blinked his eyes without a single change in expression which only riled Naruto up even more. He took a step closer to the short haired boy but stopped when Sakura quickly walked in between them.

"We're heading over to Ichiraku so you better hurry Naruto," Sakura , decided to mention as some sort of distraction before anything could happen out of the petty argument. She was determined to start the day on a good beat and no one was going to ruin it for her, " I'm not sure where Sasuke or Kakashi-Sensei is but I'm hoping they show up there sometime today so we can all discuss everything."

"Ramen! Here I come!" Naruto quickly exclaimed hurriedly trying to find his orange jacket before finding it in a pile of sheets on the floor. He grinned sheepishly at his teammates and winced when he saw Sakura's expression and carelessly slipped it over his shoulders and zipped it up before bending down to strap on his sandals and his gear. He lifted his head and stared in alarm when no one was in sight. Blinking his eyes rapidly, Naruto rushed out the door and slammed it shut behind him before following behind the others, "WAIT UP!"

"KEEP IT DOWN, YOU MORON!"

Staggering, from the high pitched level of volume, Naruto shook his hair to stop the sharp ringing in his ears and glared towards the building that lay behind him where the voice's owner lived. He relaxed his body and darted further into the almost blinding sunlight with a large grin on his face. Nothing else mattered except for getting to Ichiraku with his friends and teammates.

He fell in step with Sakura and Sai while Ayame trailed slowly behind them. Naruto lifted his arms into the air and crossed them behind his head and leaned back while he glanced up at the clear blue sky that was shining with all its might. Sometimes life was just great. He chuckled to himself and when Sakura gave him a funny look, he just smiled widely and she shook her head with a small smile on her face. Sai just studied each of his teammates reactions and subconsciously tried to memorize them as best as he could so he could look them up later on in the Konoha library. Hopefully somewhere there would be a self-help book about proper social interactions.

* * *

Just as he was about to head outside, a thought jumbled around in Sasuke's mind and stopped him inches away from opening the door. _Was being remote even worth it?_ Lost in thought he started to calculate what it meant in his head. He knew he would get nothing done until he had thought it through and discarded it into the back of his mind.

Sasuke had quickly learned the skill of being remote, for it was the only thing protecting him from emotions. It had helped him a numerous times during the first few months after the Massacre and it was the only thing stopping him from breaking down in anguish or anger. He didn't care for demonstrating his every emotion as vividly as Naruto.

But being indifferent and aloof had failed more times than he would admit and usually at the worst of times. Such as when he sometimes came across Itachi out on the field even though Sasuke knew that his brother would use his emotions against him. Sasuke had learned that remoteness wouldn't help him, almost too late. And that was only after he betrayed the village. But once Sasuke realized what he had done and what it meant, it left a bitter taste in his mouth knowing how he failed Team Seven. Failed to realize right from wrong. And as quick as he could, Sasuke corrected as best he could that one mistake. The one mistake that almost ruined his life. And he only just barely made it through. He had a second chance and probably a chance that he didn't deserve whatsoever. But he took it and never looked back. And once that was done, Sasuke attempted to change his remoteness but it didn't happen. It had become a habit he wasn't able to get rid of and he accepted the fact. And after it suited him to not react to things especially when something happened and others noticed.

With this in mind, Sasuke stopped brooding over his thoughts and flicked a stray strand away from his eyes . He wondered vaguely where Kakashi-Sensei was while he reached forward and opened the door a slight crack. He was about to open it further except he heard small snatches of conversation in front of the house. At first Sasuke didn't know who it was but he stilled when he squinted through the crack and discovered one of them was his sensei. He slowly masked his chakra and listened intently to the conversation.

"If you take one slight misstep, we will not hesitate to get rid of you despite any orders the Hokage may issue. It is believed that an Uchiha studies underneath your tutelage but until we are given proof of his birthright I find that hard to believe. And if he is indeed an Uchiha, we will relinquish your role as his teacher and teach him proper respect towards his elders," warned an old scratchy voice of one a top ranking Konoha Police Force officer. But before the old man was able to say anything more unpleasant Kakashi jumped in with his own voice.

"I respect your words Yashiro yet I know my students will take offense to splitting up the team. As will I. They fit well together and have proven themselves of their teamwork and their strength and taking apart Sasuke will be a serious issue with them and myself," Kakashi reported strictly, his eyes focused and anticipating any sort of sniping remark before he continued, " so I expect you to understand that and accept my decision to keep my students together."

Kakashi watched as the white- haired Yashiro narrowed his eyes slightly but the old man remained silent as if contemplating over his words. The Copy Nin watched for any sign of a violent confrontation but none came which was very surprising since Uchiha Yashiro was one of the ones who reacted strongly against him when it was first discovered of Kakashi's eye replacement.

"You negotiate in a blunt and less than polite manner and yet you have earned my acceptance at least for the time being," Yashiro stated calmly eying the Jounin as if inspecting him before crossing his arms and swiftly disappearing into smoke as he used a Transportation Jutsu. The Copycat stayed put where he was and didn't even attempt any major movement as he watched the smoke fade away.

Sasuke was not even the least prepared for what he overheard. In fact he had reacted in shock with widened eyes and over tensed shoulders before switching his reaction to an emotionless setting over his face and body. He hadn't known his Sensei was that defensive and protective of them outside the battlefield and bitterly he had just discovered it. And with that knowledge, his respect for Kakashi-Sensei rose a few more notches higher. Sasuke attempted to close the door and retreat from the scene but a voice interrupted him before he could do anything.

"I know you're there, Sasuke," Kakashi-Sensei's low and smooth voice broke through the silence and made Sasuke register the fact that Kakashi-Sensei had known he was there all along.

Since there was no point in trying to pretend he hadn't over heard them, Sasuke didn't bother and stepped onto the porch with his arms crossed while he stared straight ahead at his teacher who slowly turned around and faced him with a nonchalant look out of his one visible eye.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke brusquely asked his dark eyes glinting with a no-nonsense attitude. He didn't like how that old man threatened Kakashi-Sensei with his life and hinted of a separation of their group, "Will he be allowed to separate me from the others?"

"That depends on you," Kakashi-Sensei answered casually, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Since I might not get a choice. After all you do belong to one of the most important clans of the village. And once the Uchiha clan realizes your high potential they will do whatever it takes to get you properly integrated into the clan."

"So its all up to me basically," Sasuke brooded wondering in what way he would get past this problem. He wasn't all that great at negotiations; usually Sakura was the expert at this, seeing that she had learned soon after her training with Lady Tsunade on how to calm any agitated patient or high official.

"Only somewhat. After all you do have your teammates for support," Kakashi amended picturing Sakura's soft persuasion and Naruto's swift knack on connecting remarkably with others. He smiled beneath his mask, his visible eye crinkling, "Let's head over to Ichiraku where I suspect the others might be found at."

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

I hope this chapter's a good one. I hope it's not all too fast paced.

* * *

Feeling a bit nostalgic on the way to Ichiraku, Ayame let herself slowly trail behind the others with a slight tender smile on her face. It just didn't feel right heading there and not being able to even cheer up the customers. Not to mention her father would not even know who she was since at this particular time she was only four years old and not even close to her age of now. It just wasn't the same home she was used to. She heard a soft noise behind her and glanced shortly behind her and blushed when she realized Kakashi and Sasuke were directly behind her. Drifting slightly to the side and slowing down enough so they could pass, Ayame attempted to control her reddening face and took slow breaths to keep her heartbeat from racing. When only Sasuke passed her, she carefully turned her head for a quick glance but instantly stared straight ahead when she saw that Kakashi was walking directly beside her and not bothering to pass her.

"How have you been doing?" he asked in his deep husky voice that made her heart croon and her face relax into a dreamy smile which she had to quickly snap out of to answer him. He was making her nervous and she concentrated on his question determined to at least ignore her attraction to him when it was obvious he didn't feel the same way.

"This place always reminds me why I love it here," Ayame softly reported looking towards him and then quickly back to the front, "But it does feel a bit awkward going to Ichiraku without my father knowing who I am."

"It is a strange feeling. But I suppose I just will have to adjust," Kakashi answered with a contemplating expression before a small drop of water landed on his mask. His brown eyes glanced up at the sky and sure enough he could see a shadow grey cloud overhead before the rain began to sprinkle in heavier amounts. Noting the calm and peaceful reaction Ayame gave the rain cloud, Kakashi watched as a she blinked her eyes rapidly and smiled as she stared up at the sky. She chuckled at first and then started to laugh and spin around as she attempted to catch water into her hands and splashing about but even when she started heading toward the direction of Ichiraku, she still managed to whirl about and enjoy herself. It looked so free and lighthearted, her easy movements and just simply enjoying the rain. Kakashi felt like smiling as well and he walked beside her without even caring that the rain was soaking his mask and forcing his hair out of its usual style. He could see the others of his team running and racing toward Ichiraku with smiles and laughter on their faces or at least Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke was frowning at what an inconvenience it all was while Sai looked confused about why rain was such a pleasant experience to Naruto and Sakura.

"Isn't the rain just great!? It makes you feel so alive," Ayame murmured scrunching her hair and squeezing the water from it as soon as she stepped underneath Ichiraku's awning with a small smile on her face. Kakashi was watching her and shaking his head with a slight smirk on his face. She took a seat beside Naruto and smoothly Kakashi slid into the seat beside hers even though he was not going to get anything to eat. Sai sat beside Naruto and kept glancing at Sakura to make sure he was not saying anything offensive but Sakura was too busy ignoring his remarks. Sasuke was at the end of the line up wearing a scowl on his face.

* * *

Still bitter about earlier, Sasuke did not feel like eating and decided to wait on the others to finish up. Impatiently tapping his fingers on the counter, he almost didn't notice the small young girl in a pale green skirt who had crawled up on the seat beside him. He could tell his teammates were watching discreetly and swiftly he frowned.

"Are you not hungry?" the little girl asked curiously as she spun around on her chair before studying him and then the others of his team. His teammates quickly turned their eyes away but once the girl's eyes were back on Sasuke, they had turned their eyes back on him.

When he hadn't responded to her question, the little girl started to worry and wondered if he was feeling sick or something and very cautiously poked him, "Are you sick? If you are, it might be a good idea to eat something. But no sweets because they are bad for you when you're not feeling well."

Sasuke could hear Naruto snickering at his situation, and he swiftly growled low in his throat hoping that the girl would just go away. The little girl saw that he was trying to get her to leave and kindly thought that she would just do that. She after all didn't want to annoy him any further. "Sorry if I was bothering you. I'll just go now, "the little girl said with a sweet smile before hopping down from her seat and going around back. He just watched her go and was relieved when she didn't turn around and stare at him. Sasuke glanced at Naruto sideways, who was busy snickering as he stuffed in mouthful after mouthful of noodles.

Naruto burst out laughing as he caught Sasuke's sour expression before he quickly put an innocent look on his face when a glare was aimed his way. He attempted to whistle a tune for added effect, but for some reason he couldn't make a proper sound come out. He wasn't good at whistling but he thought that by now he would be better at it.. He pursed his lips and tried again, still trying to appear innocent but still failing a high pitched note. He attempted it once more and grinned sheepishly when a high pitched noise came out and made everyone scrunch their hands over their ears.

"Could you be any more noisy?" Sasuke scoffed, returning his hands back to his side and tucking them into his pocket. He was tired of just sitting there and he was beginning to get impatient, "And why were you whistling when you're obviously not good at it?"

"It's probably better than yours, Teme," Naruto argued, his face red with embarrassment and slight irritation that Sasuke had made him look bad in front of the team. Sometimes Sasuke got on his nerves.

"Hmm. is this what they call a passionate relationship?" Sai asked offhand glancing from one face to the other while still smiling his usual emotionless fake smile. He attempted a look of surprise when the two reacted strongly to his simple suggestion. They immediately denied it fierily and he could tell from the looks on their faces that they were either very embarrassed or completely willing to torture and hang him upside down from a tree. But maybe they were just constipated and sick to their faces, after all each had a awful green tinge to their skin along with a horrid grimace etched on their faces. And then Sai thought about it and believed that would make a very nice drawing.

"Some days I don't know what to do with you guys," Sakura admonished holding back both Naruto and Sasuke's collar away from Sai who was still as clueless as always. Sasuke tensed with the added pressure on his neck and quickly broke away with a solemn look on his face that barely hid his anger. Naruto on the other hand was trying to calm down and attempted to return to his food once Sakura let go of him. He fiddled with his chopsticks and decided to chance subjects.

"I wonder who that little girl was," slurped Naruto at an attempt to distract himself from Sai's evil comment, while he picked up noodle after noodle with his chopsticks. His ramen was just as good as ever and he enjoyed every bit of it. He raised his hand for a second bowl and Sakura shook her head with a roll of her eyes. He was always stuffing his face. She still didn't know how he managed eating so much ramen over the years. If she ate Tempura every day, she figured she would get tired of it. But Naruto had a craving for ramen and to her she thought he was obsessed with it.

"It's a younger Ayame," whispered Sakura turning her attention back to his question, while trying to be quiet enough not to be overheard but yet loud enough for her team to hear. She shook her pink stands free of her face and explained, "We can't forget that this is the past and everyone is younger than we are used to."

"Oh," Naruto realized, smacking his lips as he polished off his second bowl of ramen. Sliding the last noodle into his mouth, Naruto thought for a moment and then swallowed before he opened his mouth to speak, " Hey, can we head to the training grounds?"

"I don't see why not," Kakashi shrugged haphazardly, pulling out his trusty book while the others grinned and smirked and raced off towards the grounds. He didn't think anyone would mind if his team trained for a bit. And if they did they would have already shown up. He noted Ayame was a bit quiet and left behind looking. With a crinkling eye he included her, "Aren't you coming?"

"Really?!" She smiled and nodded while smoothing down her hair and following after him. Her shirt was still soaked and she scrunched up the ends and attempted a try at springing loose some of the water. But she couldn't stop her shirt from clinging to her skin. It was almost as if it was attached and although she tried pulling it away from herself, it would still stick to her. In desperate urge, she yanked a bit harder and for a few mere moments it was okay until it clung even more tightly to her curves.

A low groan startled her out of her measly attempts at a proper appearance. Clutching at the upper folds up her shirt, Ayame cast her brown eyes around but when she saw nothing she shivered. Ayame attempted once last pull at her shirt before a fierce growl made her let go and she was instantly pushed towards a shadowy back street until her back pressed against the back of a brick wall. One strong male arm was stretched across her front holding both her arms in place with her palms facing outward. His other hand was above her head and Ayame sucked in a breath, her chest rising with the extra breath she took.

"What are you doing?" a deep husky male voice deadpanned directly towards her. With her nerves reacting havoc and her heart pounding, Ayame peeked a glance upwards and caught her gaze against a dark brown eye that appeared almost a burnt gold around the edges when small extractions of light glinted off the brown. His mask moved with every word he spoke, "You've been distracting to me."

"Kakashi! " Ayame said breathlessly, her eyes dilating and her lips parting as she stared at the hint of danger and yearning in his eyes. With a strong gasp she watched him as, he bent his head and leaned his heated body against hers, tangling his legs with hers. With every exhaled breath he took, Ayame could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek. Her thoughts scattered and she could barely even think of what it all meant. He gently moved his lower arm and wrapped it around lower back while his upper arm softly touched her back at the slight dip where her lower spine met her hips.

Catching her breath and holding it, she attempted not to shiver but couldn't resist arching forward as he slowly eased his fingers up her spine with feather like tingles touches until he reached her neck where he paused and caressed before cupping one side of her jaw. With his roughened thumb, he glided it across her soft cheek in sleek gentle motions which made her close her eyes and let her eyelashes rest on her cheeks. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and rubbed his thumb against her pert lips, which was just as soft as he thought they would be. Her lips parted and he could feel her heavy breath on his finger. While her eyes were still closed, Kakashi lifted his lower arm from around her and reached up to his mask and slipped his fingers over the edge and slowly pulled it down his face until the black silk mask hung low at his throat.

With a smoldering look on his bare face, he kept his eye directed and focused on her as she slowly fluttered her eyelashes and gave him a half-lidded glance. But before she could open them fully, he tilted his head lowered his head and she rapidly shut her eyes tightly and soon felt his warm breath tease her before he slanted his lips gently on hers for one slight second.

"WHERE ARE YOU SENSEI?!!" a loud voice shouted at the top of his lungs which had caused Kakashi to jerk up and away from Ayame before he could increase the pressure of his lips. Yanking his mask back up in a flash, he backed further away from Ayame and didn't wait for her to open her eyes before he switched his expression back into his sharp Shinobi persona. He was ashamed of himself that he had taken such advantage of her and he returned to his more solemn attitude.

He was a bit relieved and slightly disappointed that Naruto had interrupted him from making a big mistake. But obviously Naruto was still as impatient as ever and that was probably never going to change no matter what. It had been an impulse that he hadn't even thought clearly through before he had already done it. Attempting to store the memory way back in his mind where most of his mistakes and impulses memories were stationed. He would think about them later and learn from them but sometimes it felt like there was nothing to learn. Shaking his head he attempted to forget about it all for the moment and remain calm.

The Copy Nin stared toward Ayame who had finally opened her eyes completely with a startled confused expression and he quickly apologized stiffly, "Please accept my apology. I took advantage of you and I hope you can excuse the discourtesy I showed. Forgive me."

Ayame was about to interrupt, and say that he hadn't but from the look on his face, he probably wouldn't believe her so soon. So she kept silent wishing she could convey her thoughts out loud although she couldn't put it into the right words. She had thought him sweet and kind for apologizing and she nodded acceptingly for the moment although she wished she could tell him that she didn't need one. She brushed her hair back behind her ear and watched as he simply walked away and kept going towards where his team was all meeting.

Ayame wistfully stared after him but she didn't want to cause any further pain or trouble for him. She felt her cheeks and discovered how warm they were. His hold on her was increasing with every instant she was with him especially after that steamy kiss of theirs. It hadn't lasted long enough but at least in would always remain in her memories for all time. She carefully massaged her neck as her cheeks increased in color and sighed at her romantic thoughts. Carefully turning away she dodged any further thoughts of the situation and decided that she needed something to keep her busy while she was here in the past. Maybe even a boutique or maybe a old tea shop or something. She had to keep her mind on something besides Kakashi all the time and the best way to accomplish that was to be busy.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

* * *

It's been a while but this scene was hard to write. And somehow one character was a bit stubborn and he may appear that way in this chapter. Thanks for listening.

* * *

Returning to his regular state of mind yet still with a distracted air, Kakashi strolled through the never changing path to the training grounds. He glanced at it and thought on it. There had always been several fields set up, specifically designed for various types of ninja, from the lowest to the highest ranking ninja class which usually pertained to more traps and snares placed out along the grounds. Although some Anbu still used the regular training fields, usually without any visible gear recognizable as to that of Anbu, most others tended to use the Anbu Black Ops personal training grounds, he reflected with a small smile. Absently tucking his hands into his pockets, Kakashi stared straight ahead noting a hint of orange up ahead.

"Ah," Kakashi sighed attempting to relax his shoulders although he still felt stiff and miserable. He rotated one shoulder and pulled up his hand to massage his neck to get rid of the tension. His neck had suddenly turned stiff all of a sudden and he knew the cause. He let his emotions get out of control. He shouldn't have started it and Kakashi knew that it would have never worked. After all didn't he learn that from the Kannabi Bridge Battle? His mind was still focused in on the past and he couldn't let go of it as easily as someone could of their own memories. It just wasn't in his nature to forgive himself and he wasn't going to put someone like Ayame through his too emotionally and physically scarred self. And besides who would ever learn to love someone like himself? Unconsciously he rubbed at his scarred eye somehow feeling Obito's eye tearing up even though he was still distracted by his depressing and pessimistic thoughts and feelings.

Deep in thought, Copy-Cat Kakashi closed in on the familiar faces of his students who wore such differing expressions. Sai wore his usual bland smile while Sakura had a small curious smile on her face along with yet a slight glint in her eyes that raised the silver-haired Jounin's suspicions. He made a quick mental note to watch anything he said once she starts asking her questions. Switching his gaze to the obviously bored Sasuke who was tossing a kunai at the ground before picking it up once again to throw back down. Chuckling a bit at that, he turned his eye towards the wide grinning face of Naruto who was rushing straight forward at him. However a sharp fast moving blur of a person reached his side first while Naruto stopped with a caught off guard expression.

"You're late again-!!" Naruto shouted out as he ran but he was swiftly interrupted and instinctively he stopped in place as he heard the slight swishing sound of a white light blade sweeping past him while dust clouded his vision. Blinking his blue eyes to clear his vision, he focused in on the commotion up ahead and gasped before going still. Stunned into dreadful silence, Naruto could only watch as the unlikely event unfolded right in front of his eyes and he couldn't even tear his gaze away.

When the dust cleared, the others could tell that a single slender blade had been rammed into the silver metal plate on the back of Kakashi-Sensei's fingerless gloves just as soon as he pulled his arm up to block. The Copy Nin felt relieved he had acted in time and remotely felt a strange sense of Déjà vu. Either way Kakashi knew he had to calm the other person down before he went overboard.

Sasuke only stared ahead with blinding shock and could not even move yet somehow he knew that Sakura's expression reflected his own. For a fight had broken out and it was an unusual one at that. After all it was not every day one got to fight oneself.

"Why did you?!" snarled the young teenager swiping with his blade at his opponent with swift fluid strokes although he was blocked each time. In a fit of rage he twisted sideways and slammed his blade at the enemy but yet another metal guard stopped him in his place.

"I'm not him," Hatake Kakashi spoke his voice deep and low as he kept his hands located close to his body so he could easily block. But if the younger boy kept it up, he was going to have to seriously ask for Sakura's healing ability, Kakashi noted, feeling small remnants of blood underneath his gloves at the pressure. Kakashi-Sensei gritted his teeth and kept his movements even and under control and decided to keep things simple unless things got out of control. But he knew it would be disastrous if he pulled out his Sharingan after all it had caused a huge commotion the first time he had gotten it. And he had been a boy that they had grudgingly let keep the Sharingan since he was still believed to be innocent.

"Then why do you look just like him? Tell me!" The younger Kakashi shouted with a determination to get some answers out of the masked stranger. In a way he knew it couldn't be him but he just couldn't let it go. His anger at the newcomer had overridden his mind for an instant and he attempted to calm down but it riled him up that this guy looked just like his father. He could only concentrate on the adrenaline flowing through his veins and the strong sense of betrayal and emotions he had long since hidden. His eyes darkened with emotion and when no answer came forth he struck out with his frustration.

"Who are you?" he growled with a warning he wasn't going to hold back any longer. His eyes focused in on the stranger and was only slightly startled when Sasuke and Naruto stepped in between them. The other two were about to do the same but the older masked stranger stopped them with a soft look.

"He's our Sensei," Sasuke grunted coldly with a sharp look of protectiveness, "If you don't understand the respect between student and sensei then you have got a lot to learn."

"He's- He's Kashi-Sensei," Naruto thought a moment before nodding not noticing the groan of the others or the slight twitch in Kakashi-Sensei's one visible eye.

"If he's related to the Hatake Clan, he's not entitled to anything," the young Kakashi stated with a more calmer state of mind although what he said next was forced past his lips with gritted, " I- I apologize for my lack of restraint and violation of the rules. I a-accept any punishment you may deem necessary."

"There's no problem. After all I do look a lot like your father," Kakashi explained carefully eyeing his students and knowing they were going to be demanding of information once this was through, "You might say we're related somehow."

"Fine. Excuse me, I'm going to go find the rest of my team," the young teen stated sticking his blade back into its holder on his back. With a flash, he vanished in a puff of smoke and was gone.

"What is going on?" Sakura asked, her hands on her hips as she looked at him with a concerning green eyes. She pulled at her Sensei's hands and grimaced slightly as she eased the gloves off his hands and healed them with her chakra. Sakura yanked out a rag from her medic supplies that went everywhere with her and quickly ordered one of the others to get it wet. _It was a very good thing she was medic-nin_, she thought noticing the amounts of now dried blood, _otherwise he would have had to suffer through it, _" You always are in some kind of trouble. You are going to tell us, right?"

She heard a deep sigh from him and shook her pink hair from side to side and gave in, "The others and I are willing to let it go for now but you'll have to tell it to us later."

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	19. Chapter 19

This chapter was a lot harder to write than I thought. But here it is. Enjoy. And please review when you can for it always makes me smile.

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With stern green eyes and with her hands on her hips, Sakura appeared as if she truly meant what she said and that she was not going to go back on her word, "You better explain. Anyways the others should be here any moment or at least they should be."

And as if on cue,with those words the others were back and strangely enough Naruto was still as silent as before and for one moment Kakashi wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. After all it was nice for a bit of peace at the moment but than also that meant that Naruto was feeling pressured and unsure of himself.

"What was that all about? I mean you insulted yourself-Wait I mean he insulted you and yet you let him get away with it?" Naruto asked quietly before his voice rose in volume with every passing second, his blue eyes blazing with passion and emotion, " Are you just going to take that?"

"Naruto, leave it," Sakura admonished holding her hand out for the wet cloth clenched tightly in Sasuke's fist. With a frustrated grunt, he dropped it into her palm and glared at the ground before lifting his eyes to his teacher. His dark eyes blinked with bits of anger still left in them and he retightened his fist. Sai only stared at the ground with a solemn look on his face. But either way everyone was completely waiting for their Sensei's next words. To them it felt like what ever was said next would be something important but not like an order but more like personal information that they were half-worried about hearing. And although Sai was still learning about emotions he felt the same way. Sometimes he understood and he would react in a way he couldn't explain but then he would revert back to normal. He would research it but could never quite find the answer. He just knew he had to listen and just simply make some sort of sense out of the words and his reactions to it if he had any.

"It's okay with me. I understand him because he is me and that's all there is to it. I just know exactly how he's feeling because, " Kakashi-Sensei took a large sigh and attempted an explanation as he looked into each of their eyes, "I've already been through it."

"What did he mean? Who was he talking about that looked like you?" Sai questioned, having those questions ever since the fight ended. He knew something was up but he wasn't sure what it was. It didn't make sense and he wondered if he had missed something. Could it be that he didn't know as much about his team than he had thought? But no that couldn't be it. For Naruto and the others had the same confused look he believed he himself wore as well. Feelings and emotional and social interactions were something he still didnt know much about. Although he believed that Naruto would tell him with a grin that he knew next to nothing about those things. He shrugged, thinking the action would convey his thoughts more appropriately.

"Sai, who did I just tell to leave it alone?" Sakura asked with exasperation although she looked at Kakashi-Sensei out of the corner of her eyes while she tended to his hands and washed away any dried up blood on them. Pulling out some wrapping from her medic bag, she tightly and securely bandaged his hands but not too tight for she didn't want the wounds to reopen and quickly reverted to medic mode once again, "Now I don't want you to be doing too much with these hands until after a few days of healing. But you still need to rewrap the bandages at night."

Sasuke closed his eyes at the calmness after the storm and gave a slight nod as he simply listened to the conversation but he still decided he wanted to express his individual opinion. With a low voice he expressed his words making sure every word counted, " What about the incident from earlier this morning?"

"Oh, that, " The Copy-Nin breathed out, shaking his head a little at the memory. His face hardened for a split second but softened when he looked at his strong but soft-hearted team before going ahead with an explanation to the others, "Sasuke is staying at the Uchiha District with his clan now-"

"His clan? But I thought. . ." Naruto bewildered blinked his eyes before shaking his blond head, "They're alive now, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are," Sasuke answered softly, closing his jet-black eyes but opening them again to stem off the memories. He stared off at some point in the far distance as he grunted, "My clan will be testing my potential as an Uchiha."

"That's a good thing, right? You've haven't seen them in years and now's your chance to prove yourself. . ." Sakura rambled on with enthusiasm until she trailed off at the end once she saw Sasuke's face. He wasn't even remotely smirking at the fact he had a chance to show off and then she knew something was up.

"If they accept me, I won't be a part of Team Seven," Sasuke said slowly, letting the impact of his words hit in to his teammates. He watched their faces change from shock and then anger. Although Sai's was as blank as usual.

"WHAT!?! They can't do that!! I've worked too hard to bring you back and I'm not gonna let some unknown stranger decide to tear apart our team. We're family and no one's gonna take that away from me! No one!" Naruto shouted shaking his fist into the air, his eyes a furious blue as his anger grew. And for just one moment there was the color of red overpowering the blue until his eyes reverted back to normal.

"No! No. . . . Not again," Sakura shook, wrapping her arms around her waist as her agitation worsened. She shivered and then grew still as her courage built and she lifted her head with fierce emerald eyes, "It's not going to happen again. I won't let it."

Sai wasn't sure what to say in a situation such as the one he was in but he thought that he needed to say something, anything although he wasn't completely sure, "I'll help as well. After all it would not be a good thing to have Naruto psychotic once you left."

Naruto scrunched up his nose and slightly twitched his eyebrow not sure what Sai meant half the time. But he would give him the benefit of the doubt; after all wasn't it the thought that counted? He shrugged and decided it would be best not to comment.

Kakashi wondered sometimes how his team ever survived in life and at the same time he didn't want to know any more about their lives that he already knew. They were similar to a family, maybe a strongly dysfunctional one but still a family all the same. All of them had their own individual story with problems that they solved as best as they could or simply made the best of. And now they were faced with brand new problems with no solution in sight- well at least for the moment.

"Don't worry, I won't let them take this team apart without a fight," Kakashi assured all the others smiling beneath his mask before he smoothly backed up a few inches which had Sakura and Sasuke tense, "In the meantime, I think it would be best if we got started."

Naruto blinked his eyes as suddenly without warning, Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke. His blue eyes swept from side to side and shouted out loud," Hey that's not fair! You didn't give us any warning!!"

"At least this time I didn't have to worry about you impatience!" a voice rung out although it was difficult to pinpoint. Naruto frowned and decided that that wasn't fair as well. He almost resorted to pouting and stomping his feet but decided that probably would not go over so well with Sakura.

Sakura shook her head smiling softly to herself at Naruto's obliviousness as Sasuke smirked and tightened his grip on his kunai while Sai simply pulled out his paintbrush and his scroll and nodded along. "Ready?" Sakura asked her teammates as she pulled on her black gloves and checked to make sure they were extra tight.

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Naruto shouted holding a kunai knife in each hand as his face split into an excited grin. Sasuke answered with a small grunt and then the team was rushing throughout the trees in search for Kakashi-Sensei.


	20. Chapter 20

Any insulting remarks comes from Sasuke's view of Naruto. Anyways I finally got over a bad case of writer's block. I knew what to right but the characters were telling me to write it a different way. They sure are stubborn. And for some strange reason, Sasuke demanded to be center of attention in this particular chapter. Enjoy and please review. It makes me happy and gives me ideas.

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"Where did he go?" Naruto complained shaking his head while still continuing moving through the trees with his team but still keeping his cerulean gaze on the lookout for his sensei, "He couldn't have gotten that far already."

"It's Kakashi-Sensei, after all. It obvious that Kakashi's good at disappearing in a flash," Sasuke scoffed, turning his head to answer the dobe's question. His eyes bled into the usual blood-red color of the Sharingan, the pitch-black tomoes spinning at a incredibly fast pace as the Uchiha scanned the forest ahead, expertly filing away details and any flicker of movement. Seeing no sign of movement, he allowed the Sharingan to fade away. Sasuke knew there was no other choice then the one he had in his mind. And as for Naruto's Shadow clones, they would take away the challenge so he knew it had to be this way. Carefully keeping the chakra attached to the bottom of his feet secure, Sasuke landed on the very next tree branch and stopped.

Sakura quickly paused in mid-flight and switched directions without any problems because of her excellent chakra control, however Naruto quickly crashed into Sai just as the ink-user had jumped back towards Sasuke's location. Sai quickly caught his footing on a lower branch and Sakura quickly roller her eyes and leaped to catch Naruto who was highly embarrassed to be saved by a girl although he kept that embarrassment quiet for fear of Sakura's explosive temper.

"What in the heck did you stop for, teme?!" Naruto shouted, his face still red from earlier, while his fingers tensed lightly over his weapon's pouch as he used his eyes to look around. He wouldn't put it past Kakashi-Sensei not to appear out of nowhere while they stopped.

"We need to split up and search," Sasuke informed the idiot, brushing back a few bangs away from his face with the tips of his finger. The movement drew attention to the powerfully dark look to his eyes, expressing the hypnotic power they had when the Sharingan was activated. Sakura suddenly developed an interesting expression on her face and although Sasuke was curious about that, he ignored it thinking that it was not worth the time, and swiftly switched his concentration to the task ahead.

"I could use Shadow Clones-"

"No," Sasuke interrupted arrogantly, causing Naruto to tighten his fist at the seemingly aloof look in the Uchiha's face, "That would make it less of a challenge."

Naruto blinked and just grinned broadly while loosening his fist, "Right."

Thinking carefully over the conversation Sakura nodded and answered with her own individual opinion, "And we could use explosive tags once we find him."

"No one would suspect anything out of the ordinary, since this is a registered training field, " Sai added importantly, a calm expression on his face which was much nicer than his usual fake smile. Since the whole team was in agreement they all nodded together and either smirked, or smiled depending on whom it was.

"We should split up into two's, just in case we each need a bit of help, " Sakura suggested before frowning at Naruto and Sasuke who didn't look thrilled with that plan, "And there better be no objections to that. I'll go with Sai since you two would probably end up fighting if I didn't."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going already!" Naruto grumbled with a frown while Sakura scoffed and mumbled under her breath about his impatience as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Sometimes he acted so mature and then he would do something that would make her think otherwise. She yanked on Sai's sleeve and caught his attention so they could get started. They raced off to one side while Naruto waved at them before his partner got impatient and told him quickly to get moving.

* * *

Running directly ahead of Naruto, with his red eyes blazing, Sasuke checked along the bottom of the forest as he kept a solid safe distance up above on the tops of the trees for who knew when Kakashi would show up out of the blue. And Kakashi-Sensei usually snuck up behind them most of the time when they least suspected it which had irritated him completely when they first tried to unmask him. And one couldn't forget the second time as well.

Expertly, Sasuke raced through the trees but for one split second, Sasuke stumbled as Naruto yelled loudly from behind him which prompted Sasuke to reach up to cover his ears to reduce the deafening noise, "Hey! Sasuke, slow down!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and growled low in his throat in reaction, "Shut it before you give us away." And just as he spoke, a small amount of motion caught his eye which triggered the instinctive action of a kunai being thrown from his hands. Sasuke leaped to the ground, noting absently that Naruto was still far behind him. Holding a sharp edged shurikun, the teenager shifted his position and inched closer. But as soon as he did, he heard low growling noises from the bushes which showed the possible danger Sasuke was in. Whatever wild creature was hiding behind the bushes was mad and must have gotten scared. Doing the smart thing, Sasuke backed up, however he failed to notice the small hole behind him.

Falling backwards and landing on the ground, Sasuke felt sharp pains as he groaned and pushed himself up on his elbows. Hearing the noises increase in volume, Sasuke sat up and noted that his left foot had gotten stuck in an old abandoned rabbit hole. He couldn't believe he had just fallen like that. And still in a state of denial, Sasuke blamed Naruto and simply yanked his foot out of the hole with his hands. Yet at the same time, he was picking himself up, a small furry creature leaped from the bushes with its sharp claws outstretched and landed inches away from him.

"A cat?!" Sasuke hissed staring directly at the irritable feline who stared straight back with gleaming yellow eyes. With a howling yowl and the fur on its back standing straight up, the cat rushed toward him with a grim intent in its eyes. He wasn't sure why such an obvious wild cat wouldn't have already ran off by now and Sasuke was beginning to think that this cat was insane. Sasuke leaped backwards to a more favorable distance, but the cat was steadily keeping up with him until Sasuke realized he had only one solution.

It was to retreat.

After all Sasuke did not want to be clawed to death or at least to a very painful injured state. So with that thought in mind, Sasuke directed chakra to his feet and raced through the forest in the same exact direction that he came, intent on getting as quickly away as possible from the crazy mad cat. Yet somehow it seemed that it was just not Sasuke's day. After all if he had been lucky, he would have gotten away safely and of course he would not have smacked straight into Naruto who was heading his way.

They both fell backwards in front of each other and Sasuke was muttering under his breath that it was Naruto's fault once again. He couldn't believe he had fallen again and it was once again all because of Naruto. Not to mention that the crash was actually quite painful once he hit the ground. He glared at Naruto who was collecting the kunai and shurikun that had surrounded them on the ground and wondered how they even fell out of Naruto's pouch. He wondered also on how they stayed put until now. Sometimes it felt like Naruto had all the luck but only sometimes.

"Don't you even know how to secure your tools, dobe?" Sasuke growled as he stood up and dusted himself off before wincing when he realized a stray kunai had scratched him. He rolled his eyes and wondered what else would happen since it seemed that almost everything bad was finally happening to him. His obsidian eyes widened with terror as he recalled the evil cat that was probably waiting for just the right moment to pounce. He stumbled to his feet, and hissed warningly to Naruto as he tried helping the idiot Naruto with his weapons, "Hurry up and let's get out of here. Come on!"

"What's with you," Naruto mumbled with suspicious blue eyes as he continued picking up his weapons and placing them back into his pouch. But just as he said that, a small brown and very furry creature jumped and pounced on the two innocent shinobi although some would disagree upon the innocent part.

"UGH! What's with this CAT?!!" Naruto roared as he finally pried the intense and still infuriated cat off his front. He had scratches over his hands and face and when he glanced over at Sasuke, he realized that his friend didn't remain unscathed since it was apparent from Sasuke's wincing. Naruto struggled with the squirming creature in his arms before noting a small scarlet ribbon attached to its neck. Naruto stared in stunned amazement and shook his head, "It couldn't be! Could it? I didn't think cats lived that long!"

"What?" Sasuke stared at Naruto whose jaw had dropped as he stared at the mad cat. Applying bandages to his multiple scratches, Sasuke attending to his wounds knowing that Sakura would be willing to heal them later. He glanced back at the orange clad ninja and sighed, "What are you talking about?"

"It's that stupid cat that we always had to find on our lower rank missions!" Naruto shouted staring at the brown furball who had finally calmed down enough to relax partially in Naruto's outstretched arms. He studied the cat and was determined that it was the same cat that the owner always smothered in her arms. Except the cat probably deserved it, Naruto snickered thinking of that time long ago. But to see it here was not possible.

"It's probably a distant relative or an ancestor, idiot," Sasuke informed, shaking his head at Naruto's stupid suggestions. He knew that Naruto was smart some times but usually he would do something that would make him rethink his thoughts. Sasuke cut the other side of the bandage with his kunai and wrapped it around a particularly large scratch on his leg. Tying it securely at the back, Sasuke finished up and stood upright. He eyed the cat and shook his head, "It's not the same one."

"How would _you_ know?" Naruto asked smartly, holding the cat out for Sasuke's inspection who simply scoffed at the still evident disbelief in the blond's expression. Sasuke wondered what he had done to deserve this and then flinched when he recalled his not so happy past.

"For one thing, it's not attacking you. The Daimyo's wife had a insane cat who would have done anything not to get caught. Besides _that_ cat had a ribbon on its ear not on its neck," Sasuke reported before looking towards the direction they should be heading at and sighed to himself, "Now let go of the cat and let's get back to finding Kakashi. Who knows where he is by now. I wouldn't be surprised if Sakura and Sai have already caught up to him already.

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	21. Chapter 21

It has been awhile but here is the next chapter which starts out with a few parts of the plot. It might not make sense at first but eventually one will understand the reason later. Enjoy the much longer chapter.

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It had only been a few hours, but Ayame had been hard at work trying to find any place that would accept her. But everywhere she went, she learned early on that the owners weren't hiring at all no matter if she had even a decent amount of essentials that the job required. At the last place she was giving up any hope of any sort of job and swiped at her forehead with a refreshing wet cloth that the tea shop owners were willing to give her without any payment on her behalf. Her hair was sticking to her face and she grimaced at the poor miserable state she was in. Closing her soft brown eyes, she leaned back in her chair trying to think of a nice cool place she could be in.

"You might wanna check up at some of the bars closer to the edge of town," suggested the friendly young blond waitress once she had noticed Ayame's distress. Ayame's eyes widened at first at the suggestion but once she had thought on it, the more it felt right. It might have not been exactly what she had in mind or even what she had never done before but maybe their could be a position that way. But she was still a bit apprehensive about it. It didn't seem like her at all to be checking out one of those places. She had always heard small rumors about them, but only small ones since some of the more rowdier customers were always stopped by her father before they could talk any further around her

"Isn't it not safe in those bars? I'm not as strong as others are. I'm not sure I could even handle something like that," Ayame admitted brushing the edges of her apron and then twisting it up within her grasp. It would never have crossed her mind, giving that she had always had such a protected lifestyle, not that she was against it; she actually felt privileged at times knowing she had a loving childhood. However it had also allowed Ayame the naive notion that everyone had a good heart although the Chuunin Exams incident had damaged that innocent notion. She had never done anything adventurous in her life and couldn't even summon up any anger when someone did something a bit irritating yet her father always was able to do that for her.

"Oh, but the ones closer to town are more civilian populated. However one or two ninja are always there to watch over in case things get out of hand," the waitress reassured the girl, as she cleaned off one of the nearby tables for the next customer. She tightened her blond ponytail and smiled kindly at Ayame who still looked nervous about it. She also added with a wink, "And besides you seem like you could handle it. Besides think of it as something new to do. Something you've never done before."

Ayame understood that the older girl was just trying to get her to understand and she could see that it wouldn't be a bad as she feared. And besides, working in a bar sounded dangerous yet somehow exciting seeing that she would be meeting new people and enjoying new experiences . She sighed knowing it was just what she needed at the moment for a distraction. An adventure that would keep her mind off things until she calmed down a long enough to look at it from a different perspective. She wasn't giving up on Kakashi, only taking a break before getting back into things. Shivering with anticipation, Ayame thanked the waitress and softly pondered her options as she stood up and stepped outside and looked toward the more shifter parts of town. It was a bit daunting and scary seeing how the streets in that direction looked almost deserted looking but she wasn't going to back down, especially now that she had a chance for the first time in a long time.

Hesitating, she clutched at her skirt and took in a deep breath. Ayame squared her shoulders and started walking. However the deeper she went, the more danger she faced. It seemed like everyone who was out and about this way wore dark cloaks and stared at her with resentful and menacing eyes. Fearing bumping into anyone of that nature, Ayame stayed close to the buildings in order to keep a low profile and tried blending into the shadows. Thankfully it was still sunny outside otherwise she probably would have never have gotten this far. If it was spooky during the day time, she didn't want to imagine it at night. She just hoped she would be able to handle it if she did get a job in this section of town.

* * *

Everywhere one looked there was a dark mysterious hollow tree or a suspiciously large bunch of bushes or a partially uprooted tree that someone could hide among or in. But none revealed the Copy Nin and Sakura was beginning to feel quite drained after checking one hiding spot after another and finding nothing. Not even some small broken twigs from a sandal or any briar bearing a small amount of fabric from Kakashi-Sensei's clothes that would tell her where he had been. And Sai wasn't helping her frustration by suggesting hints, followed by a closely veiled insult that she doubted he even knew he was using. Either way, Sakura felt like she was losing her mind since the urge to rip at her lovely pink hair was slowly increasing. But just when she had almost given up and decide to backtrack to see if she had missed something, she felt a small pulse of chakra to her distant left and if she had gone any further, she might have even missed it.

"Hold up Sai and wait for me here," Sakura hissed quietly to her companion as she viewed the area as she traveled toward the chakra signature. She had to anticipate the unexpected and she wasn't going to run right in like Naruto and get caught in some carefully hidden trap. She tested her own chakra against the landscape and when nothing happened, she felt a bit wary but was prepared to keep going. Sai silently waited, checking his surroundings every so often but still listening for Sakura if she needed any help of any sort. He may not have certain social skills ,although that process was increasing, but Sai knew how to be a Shinobi. And of course he had found out that one's teammates went first before a mission.

Sakura quickly discovered that the trees were spreading outward, which in easy terms meant she was closing in on a clearing. Preparing her weapon she stepped forward into the field and realized immediately where she was. She hadn't thought the memorial stone was even this close but she figured she must have traveled much further than she had believed. She stood on the edge of the clearing and Sakura instantly spotted where the chakra she felt had come from. A small little boy about the age of three or four lay on his knees and stared straight ahead at the old stone. Compassion overtook her and with a strong sense of purpose and concern, Sakura softly crept up beside him and leaned down.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sakura asked tenderly, touching the young child's shoulder and felt a shudder run through him. She rubbed soothingly, wanting to bring some form of comfort for this boy who obviously was still in sorrow. She studied his features, and saw that his dark hair was only a slight shade lighter than Sasuke's own, and she suspected much more softer. Sakura wasn't all that used to young children and most times they usually ended up irritating her at some point, yet somehow Sakura felt a connection and found herself surprisingly wanting to relieve the boy's tension and even thought of pulling the child into her arms and giving him a fierce hug. But with her luck, she would scare him off and cause even more emotional problems. So Sakura settled on patting his shoulder and waited patiently for an answer.

She was soon rewarded as he spoke in soft small words that made her heart ache and squeeze with emotion, "Why does so many have to die? To lose their lives in a war they never wanted?" He turned his head and the look in his eyes caught her attention and she felt her throat clog up. She smiled a kind regretful smile, and distracted herself by brushing a strand of hair out of those dark lost eyes of his.

"To protect their loved ones, so they can live another day," Sakura answered in low tones, trying to keep her eyes dry by blinking. He looked a bit surprised at her vibrant pink hair and she chuckled about the fact that her hair would always be the unusual and slight shocking color it had always been. And although she assumed he would ask her about it, the young boy surprised her with a calm statement.

"Father expects me to be a great ninja once I graduate the Academy. But I don't know if I'll be great," the soft voice of the little boy said with a look of acceptance in his eyes while she blinked and stared into those dark brown eyes that appeared somewhat wise and yet old in someone so young, " But I only hope I can do what I need to do."

In a war, it made kids grow up way too soon, before they could have a proper and loving childhood. She really hadn't thought the past was like this when she studied this part of history in the academy. And she thought she had problems back then, but they were nothing compared to a child losing their childish wonder and innocence at young ages. At least in her time, children, even ninja children had a somewhat normal childhood. Having such depressing thoughts wasn't like her, and she struggled at pushing them away.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. I have to get home now," the young boy spoke with a smile on his face that lifted her spirits as his eyes shined with a much more optimistic light. She was astonished at the abrupt change in him, but when she thought about it, it wasn't so strange. She had helped him in a little way and that was great for her self-esteem. He stood up and ran off, waving as he went. But hurriedly, she realized she didn't know his name and hollered after him.

"Hey! I'm Sakura! What's your name!?," Sakura shouted into the distance although at the last moment she wondered if she was a bit too loud. For she was still searching for Kakashi-Sensei. But she still wanted to know this little very sensitive kid's name.

The little boy yelled over his shoulder as he faded over a hill, but Sakura still heard him half-shout, "I'm Itachi!"

* * *

In shock, her feet stumbled and she almost fell as those words echoed endlessly in her head. _It couldn't be. It could be someone who just had the same name. _But sadly everything about the boy just told her that it was the same person. After all, at this point in time he would be about that age, and didn't she even notice the strong resemblance to Sasuke? And the clear symbol of the Uchiha fan on the back of his shirt. Although she clearly must have been oblivious to that symbol, but she guessed she must have been distracted by his sorrow. But how on earth and ninja like herself missed it, made her reprimand herself over her own stupidity.

Sakura felt paranoid all of a sudden and she blamed it solely on the fact that she had met a dangerous criminal who was innocent now but would someday become a insane mass murderer. She shivered to herself and glanced around, half suspecting something would jump out at her. However when something caught her eye, she blinked and wondered why she imagined a pair of slightly glossy gray eyes watching her from the woods. But when she glanced back to the spot she saw, she shrugged and rolled her eyes. It was once again her own imagination playing such cruel scary tricks on her, however she was glad that she wasn't on a mission. Otherwise it would have been even creepier.

"Why is it always me who hallucinates? Sasuke and Naruto have been through much worse than me," Sakura muttered beneath her breath, deciding she would head back to Sai, find Kakashi and then immediately get into bed and get some much needed rest. Obviously she must have not gotten enough sleep the night before although that was to be expected after a unexpected trip through time. Figuring she best head back, but still keep an eye out for anything unusual, she backed up and kept the clearing in her line of vision until she bumped into a solid obstacle of a strong male chest whose hands gripped her shoulders when she slammed into him. She let out a long breath and relaxed at the pressure of actual human hands.

"Oh, it's just you, Sai," Sakura breathed out with relief. At first when she had slammed into him, she thought it might have been some sort of bear or something as equally as scary. However when Sai failed to say anything, she figured he was just ignoring her once again which sometimes caused her to lose her temper since she hated it when he didn't listen to her and then caused him to insult her temperament. The hands lifted from her shoulders and when she turned around to remind him that ignoring her wasn't going to work this time. However she had to lift her eyes to focus in on the figure who was much taller than Sai. It was someone who she had expected never to see again. She blinked once and then twice, thinking that the person in front of her couldn't be real. Couldn't be there. It had to be an illusion or some sort of trick. But it was real, so very clearly real.


	22. Chapter 22

Here is the next chapter. A bit shorter than the last. . . Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The meadow was silent except for the slight sound of breathing coming from the two figures standing still as they faced one another. Sakura felt trapped as those intense dark gray eyes captured her gaze and refused to let her go. Every natural instinct in her body screamed at her to run , but she couldn't even move, for fear kept her firmly in place as her body refused to budge. Only her built in Shinobi instinct kept her from screaming although a small whimper escaped her trembling lips. Sakura knew that if she made any loud sound that could alert others to her, it could easily mean death for her or for anyone who heard her, so she fell silent while her body visibly shook with emotion.

Whistling, the wind whipped through the air lingering gently in his midnight black hair, as , as his eyes swept over the pink haired Kuniochi. He pondered absently if the bright tone of hair was natural as he assessed the stiffness in her spine and the tense concentration of fear reflecting in her bright green eyes. But there was no time for slight musing and he discarded the wandering thought as he watched her slowly return to her regular state of mind.

"W-what are you doing here?!" Sakura whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, but when his eyes flickered back to hers, she knew he had heard. Even though she was scared to death, Sakura straightened her back and tried confidently staring straight back at him. When his lips curved into a small clever smirk of amusement, she felt irritation at the smug male and she quickly clenched her hands into fists. His smirk faded and he then looked suddenly so serious, she felt apprehension of what it could mean. Not that she was any less apprehensive than before.

" You should be concerned about yourself," he answered in one calm breath as he stared straight at her. His deep voice sent shivers of awareness up her spine and she had to shake free from the strangely seductive tone of voice. She stared straight back, watching him for the slightest movement that would show her what he would do next. With a smooth almost subtle step, he moved closer to her which in turn caused her to take a hasty step backwards which surprised her.

Sakura was getting her courage back and when she glanced back at him, his eyes were a burning red which spun rapidly as they watched her. And that was when she realized he was blind or at least very close to it and she wasn't sure how she had missed it before. But with the way he had responded, it appeared like he had perfect eyesight when in reality it was fading badly. He had fooled her and very easily even when she was trained as a medic nin. He was a strong and very dangerous male and she needed to keep her eyes open for any trickery.

He looked refined and yet at the same time dangerous in his own way. In his composed and alluring he requested her obedience in deep rich tones he spoke, "You should go now."

In defiance of his condescending tone of voice, Sakura put her hands on her hips and snapped at him, her eyes a deep vivid green, " Not until you answer my question. Or I'll scream." Immediately she knew she had taunted him, and she had no way of knowing how he would react. She had just blurted it out without even thinking of the consequences and she felt afraid. She did not know what he was about to do and felt fear flicker on the edge of her thoughts.

He moved in a swift rapid movement, pushing her against a tree, his whole body pressed closely against her own as his deep crimson eyes swallowed hers. One hand enclosed around her wrists, gripping them tightly above her head while his other hand held a viciously sharp kunai to her throat. Fear enveloped her when she realized Itachi had her securely trapped against him. She couldn't even move her legs to struggle free, for his strong long legs where holding hers down.

However when Sakura noticed she was only uncomfortable, and not in any pain, she slowly relaxed and realized Itachi was only pressing tight enough to subdue her, not hurt her. And even though a tense warning sound still flared in her mind, she could only feel a sharp thrill race through her as she concentrated on his good looks. Most of his dark hair was tied securely in back, but the shorter strands in front lightly brushed against her face while her eyes wandered from his lovingly angled aristocratic cheekbones to the sharp strong curve of his jaw before her eyes came to focus on the firm slender shape of his lips.

Her eyes widened, as he leaned further toward her until his warm breath landed close to her cheek. Sakura felt her heart speed up as his own cheek came into with her own for a intense moment before he whispered into her ear, "It is best to watch what you say, kuniochi . . ." With his words, Sakura immediately stiffened and waited for the rest of the sentence with silence, "Around a hardened criminal."

Suddenly Sakura was more conscious of the deadly kunai resting at her throat and felt horrified that she was sharply attracted to a missing nin who didn't even have to try to have such a seductive appeal. He was so close to her, way too close for comfort and felt a frantic need to get away. Desperately she twisted in his grasp, trying to free her hands but failed to register the kunai still at her throat as she struggled. But when the sharp edge of a kunai brushed against the skin at her neck, Sakura stopped abruptly and turned her gaze to her captor. With all of her struggles, Itachi had not moved in time to avoid hurting her. Sakura stared up at him, faintly registering regret reflected in his eyes. She saw concern for her in those dark eyes and yet he was one of the worst criminals. She had to be mistaken.

"Sakura," he reprimanded a half-hearted stern look on his face as he stared into her eyes with a type of look that sent shivers down her spine because of the way they seemed to see into her very soul, "You should be more careful for things are not always what they seem."

He vanished in a poof of smoke and with her chakra, she healed herself. Sakura was uncertain with herself, after all she had survived during an encounter with the Uchiha Itachi without actually fighting him. No wonder she was so confused. She could have been killed and yet managed to stay alive. She couldn't focus in on her surrounding and she felt like she had been in some sort of illusion although it was obvious that everything that happened was real. It was startling and unnerving and she couldn't quite clear her head of the dazed feeling she was in. She couldn't even think upon it logically at the moment and needed to calm down before she could think clearly and figure out what just happened.

"Sakura?" Sai's voice called out as he entered the clearing with a startled look at her hand which was still clasped to her neck and his eyes curiously narrowed, "What happened?"

"Hmm. . . " Sakura murmured before quickly snapping out of her dazed state and turning Sai. With a look of apprehension, she sharply answered, " I can't explain now! We need to find Kakashi-Sensei and fast! A-and Naruto!!"

Sakura could feel terror sliding into her voice as she remembered what the members of Akatsuki were focused on most. She couldn't handle her team broken apart again. However, he had been all alone and did not seem interested in Naruto or even his younger brother. He had been focused mainly on her for some strange reason she couldn't contemplate at the moment. But he had kept his goal quiet and she wasn't sure what he would be after in the past. And she didn't want to know but she knew she must find out. But first she had to find Kakashi-sensei and warn him someone else came to the past besides them.

Sai could hear the urgency in her voice and saw a stricken look appear on her face. He didn't understand emotions but he knew fear when he saw it. As a shinobi, he was used to seeing fear in combat more than any other emotion. But this was different than being out in combat.

"We have to hurry! B-Before-" She stopped at the thought of her teammates coming into contact with the infamous Uchiha, and rushed towards the forest with Sai closely following behind her, "Never mind, let's just go!!"


	23. Chapter 23

This one took longer to get out. Mostly because some characters in the story were determined to have it their way and not mine. Most of my chapters usually end up with them controlling what happens. Please review when you can. It's nice getting feedback on if I'm doing things right or not.

* * *

With slightly nervous steps, Ayame cautiously stepped inside the dimly lit bar, discovering it had very few customers which surprised her. She had thought it would be more busy, but perhaps she was just getting ahead of herself, after all it was still early. But she couldn't help feeling frightened a bit at the thought of so many people and reprimanded herself. Sometimes crowds appeared at Ichiraku and she had never been bothered before so she couldn't imagine why she was feeling so apprehensive now. She was not going to run away now, not when she had come this far already. Ayame lifted her chin and was determined to be brave and courageous no matter how unnerving the situation may be.

"What can I do for you?" a deep gruff voice asked of her out of nowhere. Startled, Ayame spun around on her heels and looked toward the owner of the voice who was calmly cleaning some glasses behind the bar counter. He looked like an tough old teddy bear, and she had to keep down her first impulse to giggle. The old guy looked tough yet she could spot kindness in his eyes. He reminded her of one of those older retired shinobi's and she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

"I'm here to apply for a job here. . . " Ayame answered promptly, trying to seem stronger and more confident than she was feeling at the time. She noticed him studying her and hoped she didn't look too naïve or too inexperienced. She patted at her skirts hoping she looked tidy and hardworking but when she noticed his swift frown, she felt a bit disgruntled at his reaction.

"You don't look like you could handle it," he said gruffly, eyeing her innocent and sweet looking appearance. He shook his head at the young girl, " A young lady such as yourself, should be working at one of those fancy boutiques or fashion places."

"Hmph, I'm willing to try," Ayame answered, feeling slightly disappointed but still not willing to give up. She put her hands on her hips and stared him down, wanting him to know that she was hardworking and not the type to give up and quit when things got bad. She stared him dead in the eye until he chuckled.

"Maybe you're tougher than you look. . . " he suggested, rubbing at the small stubble on his chin. He gave a little smile, and she quickly returned it with a smile of her own, " If you think you can handle it, then go ahead."

Blinking her eyes, Ayame was stunned that it was that easy. She held her breath, thinking that there had to be some sort of catch. It just couldn't be that simple. When her new boss tossed a worn out apron, she was caught off guard but still managed to catch it. She bunching it in her hands, feeling suddenly bewildered, "So what do I do?"

" Just give the customers their drinks and set tables, for now," the old guy answered, glancing around the bar, "You shouldn't have too much trouble with the customers. Mostly it's civilians. Red usually shows up a bit later in the night and will handle any problems with them."

"Red?"

"She's an old hand at getting rid of the tougher customers," he replied to the obvious question in her mind, " Tonight's going to be another one of those slow nights, so it will just be you and me working here. And my name's Mac,"

"I'm Ayame," she introduced herself feeling proud she was about to get started on her new job. She was feeling nervous but she was going to make the best of it.

And after several hours, Ayame finally felt like she was getting the hang of things. At first, it was a bit hard getting around, for she was used to Ichiraku's close quarters while the bar was much larger and open. And she hadn't known even how to start with mixing drinks so she, was basically put to work cleaning and taking drinks to the customers. But as time passed, things got easier and then the only down side, were the perverts. They would make crude suggestive comments and she did her best to ignore them, but every so often they would come up with a particular vulgar remark and her cheeks would turn a vicious shade of red. Most of the time, Mac would get them to leave her alone, but there was always the few who were still brave enough to throw in a few choice words.

However on particular customer went way too far. She was pulled into his lap and she felt the sudden urge to snap and slap at him. She didn't think she could get this angry until that instant but before she could injure him, a clear precise voice ran out.

"Leave her alone!" ordered a strong husky feminine voice from the doorway. Ayame whipped her head around, and heard a voice call out in a loud whisper, "It's Red!"

Ayame knew the moment she saw the woman, the reason why she was called Red. Long gorgeous dark red hair ran down to the woman's waist and from the glint in her green eyes, it was obvious she was the sort of explosive and unpredictable kind of person. She had a sharp green glare directed at the perverts still holding Ayame and when he saw her, he quickly dropped a struggling Ayame in his haste to avoid the standing up and dusting herself off, Ayame felt extremely grateful and appreciative, "Thank you."

"It was no problem," the lady laughed, eyes sparkling with bright humor as she motioned for Ayame to join her at the bar, "Did you see how fast I got that guy to panic? And it's all because of either who I am or who I'm friends with."

Ayame hesitated and wondered if it was too soon for a break. She glanced at her boss who noticed the question in her eyes and nodded his head. Relieved, Ayame scooted beside the friendly lady with a welcome smile on her face. The woman asked her if this was her first time working here and how she was doing so willingly Ayame answered which only caused Red to fire off more and more questions which in turn Ayame answered just as quickly. It felt like a test, and when Red laughed, she knew she had passed. After that, they started chatting and talking about almost anything and everything. And Ayame enjoyed every minute of the discussion. But as the night continued to get later and later, Ayame couldn't help stifling a yawn.

"Falling asleep on me, are you?" the redhead teased, shaking her head with laughter in her green eyes, "Looks like old man's about to close up."

Ayame yawned and eased up off her seat, just noticing the aches and pains of sitting for far too long. She unraveled the apron she wore and quickly handed it in to Mac. After all it was about time she headed off before she fell asleep in her seat. She could see Red heading outside, but when she caught sight of Ayame she waved and waited just outside the door for her. Ayame hurried in that direction, thankful that she had made a brand new friend already.

"Are you sure you'll be safe walking alone?" old Mac called after her, with a frown. She answered back with a quick affirmation, and all of a sudden thought of _him_. Ayame tried to hide her thoughts about Kakashi however something must have shown on her face for Red quickly eyed her curiously and asked a simple little question.

"Who is he?"

"Only a crush," Ayame answered with a blush staining her face as she hid her gaze shyly. She hadn't wanted to say it, but somehow the knowing look in the other's eye got her to blurt it out. But as quickly as the blush came, it faded from her face when she called his reaction to the kiss from earlier which made her feel depressed and confessed, "But I believe he felt the same way. . . Only he feels like he's taking advantage of me."

"Well, show him," Red said firmly with a sharp shake of her red hair and a sparkle in her green emerald eyes, " After all, you won't know if you don't try. Take it from a retired Kuniochi."

Ayame was a bit shocked at the blunt demand, but when she thought about it, her words made sense. She had been hiding away from Kakashi and most of her life, always waited for him to make the first move. If she did nothing, would she lose the chance to be with him? She felt suddenly like a coward and brushed back a strand of her hair at the thought while she stared solely at her feet.

"I never thought of it that way," Ayame admitted feeling a bit depressed at her thoughts. She shook her head to clear them away. Thinking negative thoughts weren't going to help her. She had to think positive and with effort she lifted her head and gave a small smile, "I've decided I'm not going to run away from someone just because I'm scared of what will happen."

"Good, that's the best thing you can do," Red nodded and grinned, "Now I have to meet up with a friend of mine before he starts to worry. Sometimes, he just needs me to keep the laughter in his life."

Thoughtfully Ayame wondered who that could be and suddenly wondered if Red was her real name or just a simple nickname. Actually it had been bothering her almost all evening ever since she first saw her and she asked curiously, " Red's not your real name is it?"

The fierce redhead grinned and with a bright shine to her eyes, just walked off with Ayame staring after her with a lost expression. But after some distance away, the older woman tossed a look over her shoulder and waved while she shouted her answer, "It's Kushina!"

* * *

When she finally caught sight of Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura could feel the warmth of relief race through her. She never knew how grateful she would feel seeing them safe and sound in front of her. It felt so soothing, as if some heavy burden she carried vanished just when it had felt the worst. She cared about them and she never realized how much until that exact moment. In her mind, she had scary visions of Itachi finding them before her but they were right there unharmed. Sakura knew Kakashi-Sensei was still out there somewhere but she was relieved that three of her boys were a burst of speed, Sakura raced toward them, with a weary smile on her face. She stopped inches in front of them and pulled the closest to her and hugged him and slowly rubbed her face into his soft clean shirt as reassurance that he was really there. She turned to Naruto and hugged him just as tightly with her head resting on his shoulder before pulling away and wrapping her hands around her own waist for comfort.

She stared at the ground, closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side as she whispered, " I'm so glad I found you. I was so worried I was too late."

Sakura glanced up at them and realized her vision was blurry from crying. She hadn't even noticed and scolded herself as she wiped her tears away. She felt so disgusted at her weakness and she tried to keep standing upright as her legs started to shake. She was a medic-nin and yet she was falling apart and hated herself for falling so low. She struggled wildly to reclaim her calm demeanor but she felt so vulnerable and so dizzy and wondered if Itachi had done something to her. Sakura couldn't even think and her vision went dark as she fell forward unconscious. Sasuke swiftly caught her and stared straight toward Sai who stood unmoving.

"What happened?" Sasuke coldly asked with a glare, while he awkwardly held Sakura, trying not move more than necessary so he would not drop her.

"She never explained, " Sai replied solemnly shaking his head. He could barely sense the tension in the air and he could feel slight chills run up his spine despite the fact that there was no wind. He thought the strange sensation was fear for Sakura but he did not understand enough to know if it was or not.

"What?! You left her alone?!" Naruto shouted, shaking a fist at Sai who just looked at him like he was an idiot. Naruto crossed his arms and glared at him, "Something happened and you weren't there to help Sakura,"

" She's in shock but she should be okay. But Sakura's normally calm-headed and not just anything can traumatize her like this. But Naruto has a point. Where were you?" Sasuke asked in a deep accusing tone of voice. He didn't particularly care for Sai but he didn't think he would have done something like this to Sakura. But Sakura could easily handle Sai and he didn't think someone like Sai could ever overpower Sakura. Besides, they were still traveling together when Sakura first ran at them so it couldn't be something like that.

"She went to scout ahead and was gone only for ten to fifteen minutes," Sai explained as he quietly contemplated on what must have happened. He could tell that the others were worried although he could tell that Sasuke was trying to hide his anxiety over the situation. And in reality, Sai was surprised he even noticed and thought that maybe he was improving with expressions. However Naruto's tended to be more confusing than Sasuke's. But he didn't like the look on Sakura's face. She looked drained and exhausted and whatever must have happened must have been frightening for her.

Naruto looked on worriedly at Sakura, brushing lightly against her hair and wondering who could have scared her so much. And why she had been so thankful that she had found them in time. Something was not adding up, " Let's find Kakashi-Sensei. He'll know what to do,"

"Not to worry. I'm right here,"


	24. Chapter 24

This might be a bit shorter but I hope you still enjoy it just as much as any other chapter. Characters were determined to control what they do and I let them. Enjoy and if you could spare any time, please review even if it's a short one.

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It was an amusing sight. He never knew that Naruto could jump that high. Kakashi chuckled a bit at the wild-eyed look in Naruto's eyes and shook his head as he took in Sakura's unconscious state. If he knew this was what would have happened, he would have never issued the challenge in the first place.

"Where did you come from?!" Naruto demanded, shaking his fist and stomping his feet as he glared hard at his teacher. He couldn't stand the fact that Kakashi startled him and he reacted like a coward. He did not like be humiliated in front of the others. Especially when it gave them reasons to tease him, which only made him more irritated.

"Oops. Sorry about that," Kakashi apologized swiftly with a slight crinkling of his eyes before he turned serious again and glanced at the remote and distant look on Sasuke's face and knew he was only trying to hide his depth of emotion for his teammate, " Have any of you, noticed anything suspicious? Even the tiniest detail will help."

" Yesterday, I could feel someone watching us. I thought it was just a amateur Anbu but. . . Now I expect it was someone who wanted us to know they were there," Sasuke spoke up in a distant tone of voice. He felt angry at himself for not speaking up about it when it could have saved them the trouble they were in now.

"I didn't think nothing of it as well. I should have known better and realized it wasn't them as well, Sasuke," Kakashi admitted out-loud pondering over that, wondering who could it be when they practically knew no one or so everyone else thought.

"It couldn't be one of my own could it be? I didn't think they would go through so much trouble," Sasuke observed with a fit of anger, wanting to clench his fists yet he couldn't because he still held Sakura. The other members of his clan wouldn't want to provoke him when there could be signs he was an Uchiha as well. But would they be willing to threaten him to get him in order to manipulate him into following them.

"The first day we came, I saw someone I never would forget, " Sai interjected solemnly staring up at the sky as he spoke calmly, " I suspected it was only an illusion. It could not be real. Or possible and I made myself believe it."

"Who was it?!" Sasuke snapped, not able to wait patiently for Sai to get to the main part of his story. He wanted to find out what he was talking about and get it over with so they could get back to the task in hand. And if it helped them figure out who scared Sakura so badly, he wanted Sai just to get to the point. He was just dragging it on and Sasuke hated waiting for anything. He didn't have much patience when something important was at stake. And he didn't like the fact that Sai wore such a serious and flat expression on his face when he normally had that stupid fake smile in place. It made him wary of what he had to say and he didn't like the apprehensive feel to the conversation.

Sai tilted his head down and the rest could see slivers of fear in his eyes as he spoke in a deep low voice of no emotion, " It was the infamous Uchiha Itachi."

"It couldn't be. Itachi couldn't be that menacing yet," Sasuke denied fiercely, shaking his head yet doubt still crept up in his mind. Was Itachi just beginning to turn mad already? He never realized how much he hoped that the young Itachi from this time period would be his real brother. Anger boiled inside thinking he was pathetic for even that thought. He had lost the real Itachi a long time ago and if things now were to be judged there had never been the caring brother.

"No! It was the elder Itachi. . . From our time," Sai corrected gravely as shock registered in the others eyes. But Naruto was the one to react first which was not surprising at all.

"WHAT?!!" Naruto blurted out rapidly, blinking his eyes while his jaw dropped, "HOW is HE here?!! He wasn't even with us when it happened!"

"Obviously he has a few secrets he's been keeping from us," Kakashi pondered warily as placed his finger on his mask as he thought about it. His eyes hardened and he spoke in calm almost cheerful tones, "I guess we'll have to ask him next time one of us comes face to face. Itachi's not likely to show up unless he deems it necessary so we should have time. . . "

"But he targeted Sakura!" Naruto argued, wanting to go after Itachi now so he would leave them alone for good, "And I'm not gonna let him hurt her!"

"He won't. There's no Akatsuki here so he's not likely to be following their orders. So by the facts shown already, he's taken an interest in Sakura for her medical skills," Kakashi decided wisely with a nod. It made sense but there was one other thing bothering him and it was worth mentioning to the his team, "However we still don't know how we got here or how he managed the trip as well."

Quickly there was a slight pause and Kakashi glanced over at Sasuke who hadn't said a single word and had his hair in his face to hide his eyes as he looked at Sakura who hadn't woken up yet. He could see his student react with resentment and anger at the situation and knew it wouldn't be too long before he burst.

"He's always ruining my life and he can't stand to see me happy again," Sasuke growled bitterly, his eyes flashing red for a split second before they vanished. His brother was going after the only people he still cared for. He was taking them apart one after another and with a sudden thought he wondered if this was all because he betrayed his team so long ago. Maybe so many bad things were happening because of him, for Sasuke knew that what comes around goes around and not all of it was pleasant. It was punishment and he wondered if he hadn't of done all of those things, could this not be happening and sighed regret in his voice, " But with all the damage I've done, I don't exactly deserve happiness."

"That's not true!" Naruto denied vehemently shaking his head and causing Sasuke to jerk his head up and stare in shock at his best friend Naruto who was defending him against himself, " You came back and that's all that matters. You might have done a lot of stupid things but in the end you returned and that means you deserve to be happy."

Sasuke felt relief and almost relaxed at the defensive tone in Naruto's voice. He didn't know Naruto had felt so strongly about the issue and in a way it showed how Naruto saw him as his brother and his friend. Sasuke had never had many friends when he was small and only when he had been gone did he realize how important they were. Team Seven were more of a family and Sasuke thanked whatever happened to make him discover that. He wished the realization had showed itself sooner but Sasuke was just grateful it had happened at all.

"So you all do forgive me?" Sasuke spoke quietly, not knowing he had spoken the question until Naruto and Kakashi jerked back at the hard to say words. Sasuke was not the crying type but his eyes widened all the same as he glanced at the warm smiles and nodding heads directed at him. And though it was hard to see Kakashi-sensei smile, he figured the crinkling eyes were the obvious clue to that question. Sasuke for the first time in a long time, felt his mouth curve into an actual smile although small and it even hurt in the beginning from the rarely used facial muscles. He felt somewhat peaceful and he wondered how long it would last.

" I may not know you as well as the others, but I forgive you as well for once being an idiot," Sai responded with his usual obviously fake smile of his that usually made Sasuke feel like wiping that horrid creation from his face. And Sasuke could quickly feel the peaceful feeling and his smile vanish to be replaced by a scowl and a twitch to his left eye. And that was when he noticed Sakura was missing. He almost panicked but he soon caught sight of Sakura laying in Sai's arms and denied even feeling even the slightest feeling of alarm.

Sasuke never realized Sai had scooped Sakura into his arms. He didn't know when he had done it, but he didn't like how Sakura looked more comfortable. And he hated the fact that Sai didn't even look halfway awkward. Sakura still looked limp however she looked more at peace and at ease than she had earlier. But despite that fact, Sasuke still glared at Sai who had caught him off guard when he should have been more alert.

"Let's get going," Kakashi decided then and there, feeling as if they were just wasting time when they could be letting Sakura rest when it was clear that she needed it after the big scare. He looked at the sky and noted that they better hurry things up before the night turned into dawn, "Sakura needs rest and so do the rest of you. Besides we need to head on back before anything else happens."


	25. Chapter 25

Here's the next chapter. It took me a little bit, but here it is. Enjoy and if you have time please review. It helps me know if I'm doing well or not.

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As soon as she lifted her head off the pillow, she knew she was in a stark cold bed. It didn't even feel remotely comfortable and Sakura could smell the familiar sharp bitter smell of disinfectant. Blinking her emerald eyes open, she immediately closed them again as the light flooded into her eyes. The room was way too white and combined with the blinding sunshine from outside and the fluorescent lighting, it gave her a splitting headache. Sakura knew she would have to brave it and get her eyes sensitized to the brightness but she wasn't particularly thrilled with the logic. She cautiously eased one eye open and then the other before she leaned up and propped herself back on her elbows.

She loved working at the Konoha hospital but she hated being a patient when she was usually in control as a Medic Nin. Her eyesight was a bit blurry at first but once it cleared she focused in on the haphazardly picked flowers by the side. And one in particular was of a very pretty orange and she would bet her life savings that it came from Naruto.

"Sakura-Chan!!"

Sakura swung her legs to the side of the bed, and grimaced when it caused a dizzyingly reaction. She held one hand to her head and glanced at the doorway and giggled for a split second. Sasuke had walked in first however, Naruto was trying to push him out of the way so he could get in before him. And Sakura was amused at the slight twitch in Sasuke's left eye from Naruto's antics.

And then she saw Sai standing behind them who only shrugged and pushed a bit to see if he could get through, however it got a bit complicated as Naruto tumbled into Sasuke before falling to the floor and landing hard. Sasuke's lifted his face from the floor and groaned and lifted his hand and brought it to his face before he rose up and lifted himself up with his elbow. He growled low in his throat which swiftly stopped Naruto's own groans of pain.

"Get off," Sasuke growled in a deep irritated tone, which spoke volumes to Naruto who knew when he used that voice that it was time to say it wasn't him or pretend he hadn't knocked him down. Sai just settled himself in one of the hospital chairs and only watched as the spectacle unfolded. He had only copied what Naruto had done, yet somehow Sai suspected that shoving someone out of the way was very rude.

Naruto hurriedly scrambled off the Uchiha, in a huge hurry and then all of a sudden he heard laughter and he knew it wasn't Sai or Sasuke, being the stoic guys they were. Sasuke was already standing up without even looking even remotely like he had been on the floor only minutes before. But he glared at Naruto, whose bright blue eyes widened when he realized he was being blamed for the incident.

"It wasn't my fault," Backing away from Sasuke, Naruto waved his hands in front of him as he gestured, trying to keep the Uchiha from attacking him. He looked anxiously around for Sai and immediately pointed at him and shouted, "Punish him! It's his fault!"

However with all the commotion happening in front of her, Sakura was holding her stomach as she laughed for a good couple of minutes before groaning out loud.

"Oh, my head!" moaned Sakura, her laughter instantly stopped as pain swept through her. She held her head in her hands, and avoided any sudden moves, hoping that if she just kept still and waited long enough the headache would vanish.

"Finally up, I see," a strong and distinct female voice remarked as she calmly stepped through the doorway with her high heels making a slight tapping noise against the tiled floor of the hospital. Her light blond hair was slightly longer, but still pulled back in its usual fashion.

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura exclaimed as she lifted her head and stared in shock as her teacher stepped forward toward her. She never expected to come in contact with Tsunade-Sama, after all she had left Konoha soon after the Second Great Shinobi War. So Sakura had not even the slightest bit prepared for seeing her, even when she knew she would be finding other familiar faces during her stay. But seeing Tsunade now of all times, it stumped her and she thought that maybe it was the one from her time and not this time.

"Sakura, is it? You're lucky I'm even here," She drawled, putting emphasis on the lucky part. She shook her head, and clarified, "You were under a strong genjutsu however it had a delayed effect which probably explains why you didn't notice it in the first place. But the question is, who did you come in contact with?"

Sakura's eyes widened at the explanation and silently threatened Itachi for putting her in this situation. How was she supposed to answer Tsunade? She couldn't quite tell her that Uchiha Itachi did this or otherwise Konoha would declare her crazy for blaming what happened to her on a little kid or consider her stupid for not realizing how young he was. Next time, he better watch it and she was not going to show any fear or dreaded attraction. Which could have been a side effect of the genjutsu, she decided feeling more reassured and not as worried about her loyalties.

"Baa-Chan!!" Naruto shouted, dumbfounded as he stared with blinking blue eyes at her. It was Grandma Tsunade and Naruto couldn't believe it. She looked just like herself and he wondered how old she really was. Was she the actual age she looked, or older from her expert illusion skills? He wanted to ask, but he was smart enough not to say anything. But the omission failed to save him from her wrath.

"I'm not that OLD!!" She growled bumping his head hard with her fist as she closed in on the kill. She smiled viciously when he rubbed his head over the bump and backed a few inches away, "Now show some respect!"

Naruto glared after her, still tending to his head while Sasuke smirked at him. He shot him a look and returned to Tsunade who was smiling triumphantly and scoffing at him. Naruto scowled and pointed, "Why should I? You're not acting respectful either!"

"Don't mind him, he's an idiot," Sakura apologetically with a smile, before hissing at Naruto yet not moving in his direction to bop him on the head or stop him. She wasn't going to take the chance of her headache returning," Stop messing around."

"But she started it," Naruto muttered, crossing his arms and pouting as he glared out of the corner of his eyes. Tsunade wasn't the same one he knew, but she sure acted just as stubborn and temperamental. He'd thought she would have been more . . . friendly or something. But he should have never gotten his hopes up. She would be always the same cranky old lady, but he guessed it was okay with him.

"And I'll finish it," Tsunade threatened eyeing the boy before turning toward Sakura who had still not moved from the bed. She eyed her patient and asked in a soothing softer voice she usually used on her patients unless they were the stubborn sort, "How are you feeling?"

"My headache's killing me, but I'll live," Sakura wryly replied with a small smile hovering on her face, at the look of worry on their faces, "It's probably from all the tension and stress of the genjutsu," She glanced around a bit and asked carefully about Kakashi with Naruto's silly attempt at a alias , "Where's Kashi-Sensei at? Is he going to be late as always?"


	26. Chapter 26

This time it took a bit longer getting this out. Kakashi really wanted to express himself in this one. Part of this chapter should remind you of the first chapter. Enjoy and review so I know I'm still doing a good job at the later chapters. I am my worst critic once I get further into a story.

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Gently, he laid his hand upon the stone, and absently traced his thumb across the path where there was no etching, yet he could still envision it in his memory. He had changed drastically from who he was then, however it had been too late to change anything. It still haunted him, knowing he had done nothing to stop it.

"What would you have done?" Kakashi stared at his own reflection, his one visible eye revealing his inner torment. His hand shaking, he withdrew it and closed his eye in order to block out the image in front of him. He shuddered trying to distance himself, but failing in that regard as a lone solemn tear dripped from his Sharingan eye. But he didn't bother with it and only smiled to himself, only thinking of a distant happy memory of his old teammates. There were a lot of sad memories, but he couldn't just forget about all the happier ones. Like the numerous excuses Obito would give for being late. He hadn't appreciated it at the time, but it was helpful and even a bit funny relying on those excuses nowadays. Kakashi had even added a couple of his own to the group of them.

Without even having to turn around, Kakashi sensed exactly who stood a couple of feet behind him. The chakra felt old and strong and easily controlled by the individual. With a crinkling of his eye, Kakashi spun around and sent out a easy greeting, "You must have something to ask, right?"

"You guessed correctly," the other ninja answered coolly with his arms crossed over each other. He stared at the younger ninja, and cocked his head to catch a glimpse of the memorial stone, and spoke with a sense of diplomatic ways, " I did not mean to disturb you. But yes I have a few questions, if you allow me to ask them."

"You may ask them, but if it involves, Sasuke I won't have the answers," Kakashi looked away from the old Uchiha Yashiro and glanced in the direction of the hospital nonchalantly and placed one gloved finger on his chin in contemplative thought, "I was about to head to the hospital to check up on another student of mine, but as usual I lost track of the time. Sai, Sasuke and Naruto should already be there."

He tilted his head and nodded, noting as he did so, that one of the oldest and respectable Uchiha was indeed taking in the subtle hint to come along with him to the hospital. And see how things are going to shape up as long as he keeps insisting on separating the team. Kakashi was a bit curious on how the others would react and wondered who would react the most violently. He put the dibs on Naruto, however he couldn't count out Sakura who could be very scary when she was angry. He had never experienced firsthand, but he had seen the main gist of focused on Sai and Naruto. Although lately it had been Sai, as Naruto usually tried to avoid anything that would rile up Sakura, while Sai just didn't understand what not to say or do around Sakura. Kakashi was very surprised that Sai was still breathing, after all the insults and regular social reactions he indulged in.

With a quick nod to Yashiro, Kakashi vanished in a rapid spinning of leaves, transporting himself to the exact location he was intent on getting to.

* * *

"When is he _not_ late?" grumbled Sasuke, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall while allowing his dark blue black hair to dangle in front of his eyes before closing them. He pushed back a few strands of hair from his face, but they only fell back into place as usual. His eyes flickering open to see small tendrils of wind blowing in circular motions before Kakashi-sensei appeared with a hand sign in place and a couple of spare leaves circling in the air.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, his one eye expressing his cheerfulness, before directly starting off his excuse, "Sorry guys, I left my teaching manual behind and had to go back for it."

"LIAR!!"

Kakashi noted that they both yelled it right on time, and he smiled and also noted that Tsunade was in the room so he didn't dare risk bringing out his Icha Icha. He had a strong feeling she would destroy it. It hadn't been published yet that he knew of, but he didn't feel like taking a chance that it had been. Besides Uchiha Yashiro should be showing up any moment now. But probably it would be his luck when his students were chewing him out for being late. But maybe he had a few minutes.

"Why can't you be on time for once?" Sakura asked standing up and putting her hands on her hips while at the same time directly a glare at her sensei. She glanced for a moment at Tsunade who only lifted one eyebrow and left out the door. She shook her head and asked, "Do you just lose track of the time or something?"

"Yeah, why are you always so late?" Naruto grumbled, voicing his opinions loudly. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was openly glaring towards Kakashi-Sensei. However his teacher was unaffected by him and Naruto shook his head. He hadn't expected an answer but he really wanted to know what was so important for him to be so late all the time, "Can you just tell us the truth for once?"

Naruto's question struck a note in Kakashi and for the first time he wanted to tell them. Before, he would never have even thought about it, fearing they would eventually lose their faith in him or pity him. Did that mean he didn't trust them? Kakashi had always been exclusive and mysterious which was much safer in the long run. He trusted them but not so much himself. He didn't trust himself not to feel if let them in, not when everyone he started caring for was gone. He didn't think he could survive if he lost them too. . . Kakashi sighed deeply. . . Who was he kidding? He already cared far too much about them already.

Knowing their teacher was lost in his thoughts, the others all stared wide eyed and eager for any sign of an explanation. He had never waited this long to rebuke them with some strange round a bout way that bordered on the confusing. They stared at their silver gray haired teacher and wondered if the for the first time, if he was really going to tell them about himself. Kakashi sensei had been alone for so long, they all knew it was hard for him to actually have someone there for him. Someone who could watch his back like they could.

"Sensei?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi glanced down at them, wondering if it was just him or were they getting taller? He stared toward four pairs of eyes on him and smiled a sad smile before a chuckled rose up in him, " Well, I don't know exactly what to say. I've not exactly used to saying the real reason and I don't exactly know how to start."


	27. Chapter 27

Here is the next chapter enjoy.

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"Start at the beginning, Sensei," Naruto suggested crossing his arms over his chest and trying to appear wise and humble although he failed in those regards. But basically trying too hard not to look curious while at the same time, was urging his teacher to continue with his explanation. Sasuke on the other hand was seriously tempted to smack the blond or at least say something about the obvious answer the blond used but he refrained himself. He figured that if he had said anything negative, it might have snapped Kakashi out of whatever mood he was in. And it had happened before, just when Kakashi sensei was about to talk about himself.

"Go on," Sakura encouraged with bright green eyes shining eagerly for anything she could learn about her sensei. The Copycat ninja had always been so mysterious and she wanted to know more about him and not just something that was already public knowledge to everyone. She squealed inside, just thinking of all she could learn about the mysterious Sharingan Kakashi. She could not wait to tell Ino all about it once she got home. If they ever figured out a way back home. Sakura loved her boys and enjoyed teasing them and hanging out with them, but she missed all the people back home, like Ino and Hinata and all the others from the Rookie Nine no matter how annoying some of them could be. But now was not the time to think of all that. Now was the time to listen and discover more about her own sensei.

Kakashi sighed and just when he was about to speak, a slight knock came from the door. Kakashi glanced over and chuckled, "I guess I'll have to tell you some other time perhaps."

"Talk about luck," Naruto grumbled, displeased his own sensei had gotten out of it. Why was it that Kakashi was always managing to escape talking about himself or hiding behind that darned mask of his. Speaking of which, they all needed to try again at unmasking him. Even Kakashi-sensei couldn't be that lucky all the time.

As the door slid open, Kakashi changed into his more serious persona and his team instantly recognized the change and stiffened instinctively.

"Who the heck are you?" Naruto asked squinting his eyes as he studied the stranger who was eyeing his bright orange jumpsuit in distaste. Naruto caught that look and scowled. He hated when someone looked as his taste in clothes as if they were blinding to the eye. And he couldn't stand it when others underestimated him and considered him crazy, just because he wore an attention drawing outfit. Naruto reacted quickly and defended his very creative and personal taste in clothing, "Hey! I happen to like orange!"

"Only you, dobe," Sasuke smirked arrogantly, wondering how Naruto even managed to stay alive as a ninja when his choice in color was so obvious and bright. Sasuke studied the visitor, keeping a sharp eye on the old man, thinking that he looked somehow familiar.

"Yashiro," Kakashi greeted calmly, while he steadily watched his team for any violent reaction. Some were curious or confused that he knew the old man's name, but he could quickly tell that Sasuke had caught on to who it was. Sasuke was clenching his fists tightly and casting hard glares at the Uchiha. Kakashi knew he would have to keep an eye on him.

"You're the one trying to break up Team Seven," Sasuke snarled viciously, unconsciously triggering the red eyes of the Sharingan. Anger boiled in his mind, and he dug his nails into his palms, causing them to bleed. He released his fists at the sharp pain and glared at the old man. Sasuke was beyond furious but he wasn't going to let this guy get the best of him. He switched off his Sharingan and smoothed his features to a calm façade. Although bitterness was threatening to smother him.

"NO! I'm _not_, letting some old guy take apart our team! We're family! _Family! _" Naruto yelled out, his voice rising and lowering at intervals as he sent a scowl toward the visitor. His whole body was shaking with anger and he stomped his feet and pointed his finger at the old guy with his blue eyes blazing at the stranger who was taking his family away. Naruto with his bright orange jumpsuit crossed his arms and shook his head ferociously while glaring the old man down.

"Okay, _that's it_. I've _had it! _I can handle upset patients, stubborn idiots, and the eccentricities of my team but _this_? Stuck in the hospital is worse enough and I'm _not_ going to take any more problems. No _way!_" Sakura hissed here green eyes glinting with malice as the pink haired female slid off her hospital bed and marched up to the stunned elder Uchiha who had unintentionally riled up the underestimated female member of the team. She could be scary when she was irritated but when someone went too far, she could be dangerous.

Everyone in the room stilled as the rosette lifted her shoulder and rolled them back. She was breathing in softly and with a sigh she calmed down although a remaining sparkle still remained in her glittering eyes. Kakashi dutifully observed that showing Yashiro a respectful and mature team was out of the question. They had already lost that chance of winning Yashiro over. Sai had not reacted in any familiar insulting way but that was probably due to his recognizing a power play going on.

"Now I have a suggestion. As a ninja, our lives tend to be prone to violence however, in several cases it is better to have a more diplomatic view of things," Sakura hinted softly, although even with her voice sweet and low, the others knew she could be forceful. Sakura shook her head, "Why don't we show you how well our team works together."

Kakashi nodded, knowing exactly what she was aiming for. It was too late in convincing that Sasuke was not an Uchiha. After all, Yashiro had just seen the Sharingan in action. Sakura's suggestion would give the Uchiha a chance to see them at their best and would help him consider keeping Team Seven together. It made sense and he wasn't surprised Sakura was the one to come up with it. She was an intelligent and highly thought of and one of the best medics to boot. If it wasn't for her, he didn't know how he would have survived the other two. Or three, now that Sai was included with Team Seven. And on that subject, Sai had his sketchbook out and every few seconds would put his ink to paper as he watched the drama unfold. Kakashi just blinked his eyes and drew his gaze back to Sakura and Yashiro.

"Ah, why don't we head to the training grounds, before something get's damaged. We don't want Tsunade-Sama having to clean up after us," Kakashi smoothly broke in glancing around at the hospital room and trying not to visualize Lady Tsunade's reaction. Hiding his shudder, the elite Jounin checked the occupants of the room and noted that they were calming down tremendously and he chuckled dryly. Sasuke was openly smirking, Naruto, grinning from ear to ear and of course a pleased smile from Sakura. Sai was carefully writing down things that he deemed important and as for Yashiro, he had one eye brow raised in contemplation, "But that's only if you agree with Sakura's proposition of course, Yashiro-san."


	28. Chapter 28

Sorry about the wait. A certain character demanded to be in this chaper. Review so I can know how well I'm doing and to ask questions. Anything that's confusing might be there for a reason. Enjoy

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Last night she had searched for Kakashi failing in even catching a single glimpse of him, and when she had finally turned in for the night she found out that somehow changing from working during the day to working at night messed with her internal alarm clock. So here she was awake early in the morning as usual but without the normal healthy amount of sleep. Her eyes sleep deprived and every part of her wanting to head back to sleep, Ayame groaned and tucked her head under her pillow wishing as hard as she could to go back to sleep. But it was no use.

Ayame sat up, blinking her dark brown eyes and sighed deeply as she resigned to being awake. It was probably time to explore the town, and with a sigh she changed into her daily clothes and headed down the hallway and outside. She walked along the sidewalk, feeling a bit happier when every so often would be greeted with a friendly hello. It was an unusual feeling hearing so many people she had never seen before in her life and she knew she should explore and discover what was different about Konoha.

After all, it wasn't every day, one traveled to the past. If anyone would have asked her if it was possible a few days ago, she would have lightly teased them and said only in dreams. But now, she didn't know what to think. She sighed, wondering how they were ever going to get home. She missed her father and all her customers with their tales and stories. She was just feeling a bit depressed.

But then, she felt someone tug at her hair and all of a sudden Ayame noticed that her bandanna had been snatched. Eyes wide and unbelieving, she spun around and noticed a small young boy sticking his tongue at her and waving her bandanna in the air as he rushed off.

"Hey! Give that back!" Ayame called out, feeling a bit nonplussed at the way her morning was going. She kicked up some dirt, chasing frantically after him as he dodge through market under hangings and at one point she thought she had him. Until he smirked and snuck out behind a small little gap she hadn't even noticed. Checking from side to side, the brunette held her hands on her hips and turned around to catch him smiling brightly at her.

She hurried after, him chasing him as fast as she could as he took quick turns and jumps over crates and around barrels that blocked the path. It was as if he was used to getting through the streets without running into anyone or anyone's service carts. She was getting tired and she had only chased him for a few moments.

She stopped in mid breath, panting as her hands rested on her knees as she stared after the troublemaker who was still running on ahead. Ayame groaned and figured it was about time to give up on ever catching up to him. She blew the few strands of hair out of her face and sighed, knowing her hair was probably a mess. The brunette brushed her hands through it, trying to get any tangles out at least. Ayame, blew at her hair and swept it somewhat behind her. Her day wasn't getting any better and she sighed.

"Hey! How did it go?"

"Hmm?" Ayame glanced up, a startled look on her face as she saw Kushina standing directly in front of her with a enthusiastic grin on her face. At first she didn't know what the redhead was talking about until the thought struck her that this was about her confession. Her eyes drooping, she stared at the ground feeling like a failure, "I couldn't even find him."

"You can't give up that easily! You just got to work harder," Kushina declared crossing her arms and frowning at the younger girl. With a determined look in her eyes, Kushina muttered under her breath and then smiled as she lifted her new found friend's chin up and let go, "Just keep your chin up and keep smiling and you'll feel better in no time."

Ayame couldn't help but smile at her who only grinned in return. She had a new friend and her personality was so very happy and perky. Brown eyes sparkling with happiness, Ayame nodded her head wondering how this older woman could cheer her up so fast. It reminded her of Naruto who always managed to make her smile even when she was feeling a bit down or overtired.

Although it was very likely he hadn't even known it at any time. He was very oblivious to a lot of things, including the sweet natured Hinata who had such a huge crush on him. It was hard to believe that Naruto didn't even suspect it, but maybe he didn't think anyone would have a crush on him. However doubtful that may be, it was still yet another possible solution that she dreamed up. Ayame smiled a sweet natured smile and tilted her head, reprimanding herself on getting so distracted. She was always creating up unbelievable romantic lives of her customers, even the regulars she knew.

Kushina just smiled with glowing eyes that were actually a bluish violet instead of green which confused her greatly. She could have sworn they were green and if anyone had asked, she would have immediately said so. There were small little flecks of green in her eyes and Ayame shrugged. Kushina eyed her curiously and with a wild mischievous smile she asked, "Why don't you and I go and find this little boyfriend of yours, hmm?"

Ayame coughed and sputtered, her face turning a shade of crimson and quickly she held her hands to her cheeks, trying to calm herself down as she denied hotly," He's not my boyfriend!"

Kushina just laughed and slyly corrected her mistake with a reassuring wink, " But going to be, right?"

Ayame blushed again and Kushina believed that if this was the way things were going to be, it would be pretty fun. And lately with her being 'retired' she had been getting very bored and she hated that those idiot counsel was the one to decide she shouldn't be fighting. The only reason she hadn't yet got a vengeance against them for it was the fact that the idiots vowed they would reinstate her after the war was finished and Kushina wasn't going to give them any reason to decline on their promise. At least Minato was still around to tease otherwise who knows how she would have survived without anything to do. Thankfully Ayame was here, because the redhead knew it wouldn't be too long before he and his team were sent to battle.


	29. Chapter 29

Sorry it took so long. Certain characters wanted to be in it and were determined to be written a certain way. _Arrogant_. . . Well enjoy and . . . .

* * *

"So you agree," Kakashi registered, his one visible eye crinkling as he smiled beneath the fabric of his mask. They had transported to the training grounds soon after Yashiro's decision, which was the wisest choice. It was a huge relief that Yashiro was actually going to give them a chance first before he decided on if he was splitting up the team. Although that was very confusing for the famous Copy nin, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. When he had known the elder Uchiha, Kakashi had tended to avoid him as much as possible since when he did run into him, his day usually ruined without any chance of survival. Sharingan Kakashi eyed his team and the open clearing ahead of them and smiled. _This is going to be fun. _

Sakura noticed something was off immediately. Kakashi-sensei was acting far too happy under the circumstances and that fact put her on high alert. Especially when he had a certain familiar gleam in his eye and that made her straighten up and make sure to keep a sharp eye on him for anything unusual. In addition, it looked like she was up against it alone since her boys were oblivious to it all.

"Ground rules are no signature jutsu. . .Sakura?" Kakashi explained vaguely hoping that Sakura with her smarts understood what he was trying to say without pointing it out. As of such, this meant no Sharingan for himself since he did not even want to begin the difficulties of explaining why he had it to Yashiro.

"Right," Sakura nodded, knowing exactly what he meant, seeing as using Tsunade's skill would be a huge warning sign that something was up. And hopefully she could make sure the others did not get any funny ideas.

"Now, where was I? Hmm, oh yes. . . As for the rest, the rules are the same as before as long as you take the bells from me, are we clear?" Hatake Kakashi announced as he gently pulled out two gleaming bells from his pouch and held them up in front of him.

"What? Why do you have those?" Naruto bellowed out with feeling as he shook his head and stomped his feet for emphasis. He was not going to go through this whole thing again. Determined on not being the one tied down to a stump again, Naruto scowled and crossed his arms. If anyone, he wanted it to be Sai or Sasuke.

"The bell test?" Sasuke questioned, one eyebrow raised as he stared at Naruto who was making such a fuss over nothing. He glanced at Sakura who smiled sheepishly before she smacked Naruto for his aggression.

Sakura eased up and calmed herself down before asking with a curious light in her green eyes," Why do you only have two? There's four of us not three."

"Hmm. . . Well, Sai's only going to watch you three fight. He's going to watch for any mistakes taken and correct you afterwards," Kakashi explained to his overly argumentative team, wondering how they even ended up paired with him in the first place. The bells jingled as he stuck them in the usual place, and Kakashi carefully reached up and tightened his headband.

"Hn. . . Lucky," Sasuke muttered his eyes darkening with resentment as he glanced toward the solemn Sai who only widely smiled as usual. Brushing a few dark strands from his face, Sasuke looked toward his teacher and smirked as he pulled out a kunai and let it dangle on the end of his finger, "Let's get this over with."

"Don't forget teamwork," Kakashi added before he performed the disabling and vanished in a poof of smoke making it obvious he had been a clone the whole time. The others groaned at the realization that once again their teacher got the best of them without even suspecting he wasn't the real Kakashi-Sensei.

"Ugh, he always does this," Naruto groaned in response, as he shook his blond head in resignation. He glanced toward a smiling Sai and wondered if he had already known or not. It would be like him not to even warn them. The sad part was that there had not even been a single hint that Sensei had switched with his clone, but he figured that he was that good.

"We need to get moving," Sasuke ordered, calmly glancing around at the clearing trying to pinpoint Kakashi-sensei's hiding spot while at the same time ignoring the Uchiha Elder and Sai's watchful eyes. Adding in an extra rule to the bell test just was not Kakashi's style and it made him believe there was something more than just showing the elder teamwork. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura motioning with her eyes and jerking her head in Yashiro's direction and his eyes narrowed before quickly coming to some understanding. Sakura knew more but she wanted them out of earshot of the other Uchiha and he gave a slight nod in understanding. They just had one problem. And that was Naruto and his loud mouth.

* * *

"I'd better get back to the training grounds," a cheerful female ninja told herself, while diligently taking a bite out of the nice big red apple she was holding. _And she could eat the rest of it on the way back, which was a huge plus. _

Most of her time tended to focus on training, so whenever she did take a break it was a huge relief just to be able to breathe without panting. Sometimes she couldn't even move afterwards and had to resign herself to resting before she could move about. It was a tough trying to keep up and every moment usually spent on getting a little bit better and just a little bit more dangerous. On the rare occasions, that she could still move around afterwards, the strong willed brunette would head to town for nourishment once she convinced her more apathetic training partner she could go. Sometimes he got on her nerves but at least he was willing to train with her.

With her pondering thoughts, she almost didn't notice she was passing the old compound. However once she glanced in that direction, Tenten promptly dropped her apple to the ground, watching as it rolled closer to the entrance as she blinked and stared .With an uncharacteristic squeak, she shook her head trying to rid herself of the image lying in front of her. Quickly the weapon mistress of Konoha carefully made a sign and whispered kai to release whatever genjutsu cast but to no avail.

But it was no illusion. The brunette hardened her eyes, knowing she had to tell the others as fast as possible. And the best way to do that was to head straight for town. Maybe one of them knew what was going on. She sure did not. She just hoped this would not take too long or Neji was not going to be happy. And that was never a good thing, especially when he took it out on anyone who irritated him. Tenten usually ended up trying to clean up after him, which was a lot harder than it seemed.

She absently rubbed the back of her head somehow avoiding the two buns as she moaned aloud, "Why does stuff like this always happen to me?"

* * *

In a matter of seconds, his mood had gone from passable good to horribly bad and hearing Kiba whisper if it would be safe to ask him, was not keeping his irritation down. He did not know what the brash Inuzuka wanted to know but already Neji was highly considering not answering him. A scowl appeared on his face for a split second as Shikamaru answered in the negative but Neji quickly wiped his face clear of any expression.

"Hey, Neji," Brutally Kiba called out, his voice loud and as pushy as always which caused Neji's returning scowl to deepen. He only wanted to find Tenten and get back to training and searching for her was taking way too much of his time already.

He ignored Kiba who in return growled in retaliation. Neji raised an eyebrow and smoothly inquired, " What is it, already?"

"Hmm. . ." Kiba eyed him suspiciously, crossing his arms before speaking bluntly, " It's Naruto. He was _supposed _to help me out with washing Akamaru but I can't find him anywhere. And not to mention anyone _else_ from Team Seven, including that _idiot,_ Sai."

"Isn't it possible, that they're on a mission?" Shikamaru suggested, leaning against the outside wall of Ichiraku. Shikamaru logically thought that being on a mission might be why he hadn't heard Naruto since yesterday despite the fact that Ino had not said anything about Sakura leaving for one. Ino tended to know a lot about Team Seven and what she didn't know she speculated about and usually tended to tell him all about her supposed ideas. But he usually tended to tune her out, so it was possible Naruto was on yet another mission.

"No, Hinata would have already known about it, if that was the case. She usually watches his departures unless she's on a mission herself," Kiba snickered softly, his brown eyes laughing at the thought that Naruto still did not know how devoted Hinata was to him. Shikamaru only raised an eyebrow and Neji slightly nodded understanding immediately what Kiba was saying. Hinata _usually_ knew where Naruto was and if Kiba could not find out from her, it made things a bit confusing.

"Hey guys! You wouldn't believe what I've seen!"

Neji directed his pale gaze towards a panting Tenten who was breathing heavily through her mouth before she rose and met Shikamaru's and Kiba's eyes before pinning her brown eyes to Neji's own pale ones. She grunted with effort and spoke quickly, her eyes flickering her concern, " Something major is going on at the Uchiha Compound. You won't believe it till you see it."


	30. Chapter 30

Sorry for the long wait. A horrible writer's block happened but hopefully it's now over.

* * *

Sasuke gritted his teeth, keeping a tight grip on the shuriken held between his fingers as his other hand twitched from Sakura's explanation. His aggravation set on high, he felt suddenly reduced to the level of a Genin. His voice low and stiff he voiced his thoughts, "So, we're limited in our moves."

"I still don't get it. No Rasengan? No Summoning?" Naruto asked rather blankly, his eyes squinting in concentration while he crossed his arms and thought about it. His eyes glazed over and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Sasuke and Sakura also wouldn't be able to use their strongest attacks, but he didn't understand the reason behind it. _What was the whole point? Why couldn't they? Weren't they gonna show the stuck up old guy what they could really do?_

"What would the toads say if you can summon them, when you _don't _have a signed contract? In this time, you don't have one," Sakura stated clearly, raising an eyebrow before shaking her head. Resisting the urge to knock some sense into Naruto, Sakura sighed before pointing out another example, "And you've bragged that the Fourth Hokage created Rasengan, so what happens if he sees you using a jutsu when you shouldn't even know about it? How are you going to explain that?"

With a groan, Sasuke watched as Naruto rapidly nod his head with a glint of realization in his eyes. Closing his eyes for a moment, Sasuke tried to pretend he didn't have an idiot for a teammate. He opened his eyes and grunted, "Let's get the bells and get this over with."

Snickering lightly to himself, Naruto grinned as a thought crossed his mind. With blue eyes sparkling with mischief, he whispered as softly as he could, "Hey, Kakashi-Sensei can't use his Sharingan."

With a smirk, Sasuke turned his dark eyes toward Sakura who was twiddling a few strands of pink hair around her fingers while a sweet troubling smile shown on her face.

In one quick motion, Team Seven fell into the defensive, rearing backwards to avoid a multitude of oncoming kunai. Smirking, Sasuke threw several of his own through the air, listening to the sharp clashing of metal. But at the same time he kept constantly on the move and even ran up a tree using his chakra before flipping backwards to avoid incoming attacks. The artillery stuck securely in the tree, and Sasuke smirked to himself at his dodging skill. Another round of weapons flew, and with fast reflexes, Sakura arched her back and flipped backwards, feeling solid ground beneath her gloves before landing safely back on her feet some distance away. She stretched her back from the effort and then relaxed her muscles into a more restful arrangement.

"Stay back," Sasuke warned, concentrating on the battle as he grabbed a mixture of weapons from his pouch. Adrenaline rushing him, he glanced back at Naruto who held himself steady up high in a nearby tree, and then looked at Sakura who nodded to his warning by ducking behind a nice sized tree of her own.

Intense green eyes flickering towards the sky, she armed herself with a kunai and took the time to attach a few un-activated exploding tags to the handle. After all if she couldn't cause damage with her fists, she felt as if she was due to have some sort of way of catching others off guard. Sakura eased herself into a position where she could keep an eye on things while still remaining partly safe behind her hiding spot. The attacks stopped and she quickly held her breath and eyed the area where Sasuke stood with a cautious look on his face as held his weapons.

Silence hovered and the fighting sounds stopped. Not a sound made.

_What are you planning?_ Sasuke narrowed his eyes, trying to discover his sensei's hiding place by spotting the tiniest of movement. He felt his whole arm twitch in anticipation and he instinctively stilled it in order to concentrate on his surroundings. The proud Uchiha Sasuke waited for some sort of sign and whispered, "What are you waiting for?"

Sasuke had never been one for patience on the battlefield and waiting for the opportune moment. He would rather be directly in the fighting, getting better in skill. Sneaking about and catching the opponent off guard took time and he hated to waste time but he figured that Naruto would probably hate it worst. He gritted his teeth and remained in place.

The kuniochi lifted her head, hearing the sweet sound of a bell from above which quickly stopped as she glanced up and saw nothing. There was no sign of Kakashi.

"HEY! What's going on!" Naruto shouted, trying hard to squint through the upper tree limbs where the sound had come from. He eyed the area a bit longer than the others, trying to make out what was happening. The bell sound came again and all three teammates glanced up before realizing it was a trap.

Sasuke quickly realized the sound was an unnerving distraction that would keep their gaze upwards while Kakashi-Sensei rushed in from the sidelines. He armed himself with his windmill Shuriken and blocked the fists with his weapon acting as a makeshift shield. However with quick thought, Kakashi made sure the weapon collide with the backside of his gloves where it was reinforced with metal.

"Take cover!" Sakura cried out, checking to make sure Sasuke was out of range as she rushed forward and threw her tags toward the ground and jumped back. Focusing on the smoke and sizzle coming from the kunai Kakashi's eyes widened and he quickly dove for the sidelines as it exploded and flames lifted upward before dying down in a quick blow out.

"Nice job Sakura with the exploding tags however it didn't quite work," Kakashi responded in a cool even tone as he eyed the resulting damage to the ground. Pulling his gloves tighter, he glanced at Sasuke who stood with glowering eyes at his condescending tone of voice. With a reassuring wink, Kakashi chuckled a bit at the response and wondered dryly where Naruto was.

A jingling sound came once again from above and Sakura gasped and readied herself for an attack as she moved out of the way her eyes focused on the sky while Kakashi smiled. Sasuke realized Kakashi-sensei was only testing them and he made sure to keep an eye on his teacher and not on things that didn't matter. Things were happening way too fast and they still haven't gotten a single bell. Sasuke scowled at the tricky distraction of catching their attention off of their teacher once again and growled, "That's not gonna work again."

Naruto watched his teammates head in on a two against one attack against Kakashi and spotted the fact that the others failed in. Kakashi no longer had the bells securely tied to his pouch. _Maybe he was a clone. _But that didn't make sense. _Weren't all clones the exact copy of the original? _He was tempted to join in the fight and normally he would but something was going on and he with determination he was going to find out what. He eyed the upper branches and decided the best thing to do would be to climb higher and hope he spotted whatever that weird sound was coming from. If he stopped it, it would help the others focus solely on their teacher.

At first Naruto climbed slowly, keeping his foot in footholds the tree gave and using his hands to reach farther. However when one branch collapsed under his weight, he quickly steadied himself by basically flapping around until he managed t to fling his arms around a more sturdier branch. With a huge gulp, his blue bright eyes widened as he watched the flimsy branch fall and shatter to the ground. _Don't wanna fall now. Next time check before you grab. _

Naruto moved slowly checking each for any weak spots before grabbing on to a branch to lift himself higher. But it took too long just to move even a moment. He'll never get to the top and by the time he made it, Sakura and Sasuke would figure things out and find the real Kakashi. He would be framed the slowest ninja of all time if that happened. He had to hurry but this was taking way too long. A thought hit him and he blinked and groaned. _I completely forgot about using chakra. _With a renewal of determination he pulled chakra to his feet and ran higher and higher.

Once he reached the top he grunted and smiled widely. But as he looked around, Naruto saw nothing that could have made that weird sound. _But I just heard it a moment ago._ A faint subdued version of the sound came from the right and he swung his gaze in that direction but still saw nothing and whispered to himself, "What am I doing wrong?" He squinted his eyes as the sun hit the trees where he was looking and then saw what he hadn't noticed before.

A glint of something shiny and bright had come from that direction. He jumped the huge gap between trees and quickly discovered a kunai buried high buried in the tree with thin trap wire tied to the handle of the knife. With careful hands he touched the wire and wondered why it was still tight and why the kunai was still there.

When Tenten used wire to tie her weapons, she usually tended to pull them back to her when she wanted to use them again. But if someone no longer needed the trap wire or the weapons attached, they would cut the line and let it lay limp like Sasuke did when he wrapped wire around a person with the kunai added to add weight and movement.

"So, why is it still here?"

He followed the line of sight where the wire followed and grinned widely when he came to the realization to the reason. Naruto fumbled with a sharp kunai and carefully cut the line and held on as the prize attached in the middle slid down. _Who's the slowest now?_


	31. Chapter 31

Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait. But no matter what this fic will be completed. So no worries. Enjoy

* * *

With a wide excited grin and a loud laugh of his own, he proudly held two bright and shiny bells high in the air. In his excitement, the stubborn orange clad ninja put on a burst of speed and raced down, only slumping and jumping when the distance from the ground closed in.

Landing swiftly on his feet, Naruto crossed his arms in triumph as a proud cheerful feeling raced down his spine. His surrounding, though had changed somehow and he frowned in confusion but shook his head. He must have jumped further than he had thought. He jerked his head, a sharp spike of unease ate at him and he glanced around but saw nothing. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as a cold chill swept through him before he heard a noise signaling the rest of his team. A smirk appearing, he couldn't wait to show off his set of bells. Especially to Sasuke when he realized he would be the one tied up. _Hah!_

Quickening his pace, he leapt into the sidelines of battle and quickly caught their attention with a loud piercing yell. Proudly he held up his prize and grinned brightly.

"Look what I got!" He shouted enthusiastically, his every motion bragging with every exaggerated movement he took. The others glanced toward him and he could see their irritation and the slightest twitch in Sasuke's eye. There was only one bell clearly visible in his grip. Naruto's eyes widened and shook his arm, hoping maybe it had fallen into his sleeve or something.

"Idiot, you lost a bell," Sasuke pointed out, irritation leaking from his voice as Naruto anxiously patted at his pockets and his kunai pouch with hope of some unforeseen discovery. Sasuke scowled and shook his head at Naruto's actions.

Naruto panicked and began turning his head left to right, trying to see anything before he threw his knees on the ground and put his head in his hands in distress, "It has to be HERE! I just had them!"

"Maybe I dropped them!" Naruto mumbled, squatting and looking closer to the ground in hopes of locating the other bell. Wildly, he started crawling around and quickly checking under any suspicious bush or rock.

"Shut up and get moving!" Sakura growled, turning her head back to Kakashi who was chuckling wildly and she paused in realization. She tightened her fists and shook them at him for tricking them all along. Naruto stood up and stomped his feet in frustration, before kicking the dirt in sorry attempt at dispelling his disappointment. He had been so close.

"You've been fighting a clone the whole time. Sorry to disappoint," A voice called out from directly behind Naruto. Naruto spun around and shouted with pointed fingers at his real sensei. The clone vanished and only the real one remained in place in an easy and calming stance.

"HEY! You stole my bell!" He accused, anger rippling through him as he spotted a very familiar gleaming silver bell. He couldn't believe it! How could this have happened? He gritted his teeth and shouted at his teacher, "That's not fair! You cheated!"

"Well trying using some teamwork and maybe you can get it back," Kakashi-sensei answered cheerfully, crinkling his eye as he smiled beneath his mask. He eyed his students and watched as they all twitched in response. He still hadn't lost his touch. With a wild rushing attack, Naruto raced toward him but at the last moment threw his own remaining bell toward Sakura who swiftly caught it and caught gazes with Sasuke who nodded with a smirk as they hurried in with their own attacks. After all he did say teamwork and what better way, than to overwhelm him with multiple attackers.

"About time we were the ones to have the upper hand," Naruto smirked as he quickly brought about a couple of shadow clones into the battle as his friends gathered around and focused in on their opponent. Kakashi's eyes widened and defended himself a bit more fiercely, catching a few kicks and several punches while throwing a few of his own kicks to keep them pushed back.

Clones poofed out of existence every few moments but others instantly replaced them as the battle continued on. Defending from attacks, Kakashi-Sensei head reared back as a sharp jab to the chin from Sakura came and with a sense of purpose, he sent them back some distance with a swift fast moving spin kick with chakra included to improve the speed. With one gloved hand, he rubbed at his chin and inwardly approved at the sheer amount of force and determination. His breathing a bit ragged but not as harsh as the others, he focused on staying still and moving as little as possible as he regained his breath and quickly got back into a more proper stance.

"Hey, sensei!" Naruto grinned widely while the others looked on with smug smiles once they caught their breath, "Looks like we're wearing you down. So give up already."

"No need," Sasuke reported, still in his battle stance with his usual smirk in place. He opened his fist to show a cleverly taken bell. He had properly used Sakura's quick distraction to his advantage. But he wouldn't hadn't been able to even do that if it hadn't been for Naruto's numerous clones. Sakura held up the other one in triumph and stuck on hand up in a obvious peace sign with a sweet smile on her face. Naruto looked from one to the other and just smiled a huge smile.

"You've greatly improved but not enough. Maybe next time," Kakashi acknowledged quickly using a quick sign which dispelled his little secret. As quick as the bells were in his student's hands, they vanished.

In shock, Naruto shouted of trickery and Sakura yelled in indignation as Sasuke muttered under his breath on not catching sign of the illusion in the first place.

"So when did you pull that?" Sasuke questioned in an even emotionless voice as his dark eyes narrowed with dissatisfaction at his silver haired sensei. He stuck his hands in his pockets and continued on with waiting for some sort of answer.

"In the beginning, when my clone first gave out the rules," the copy cat Jounin answered with a shrug as he tucked his own hands into his pockets, "But I made sure to keep the genjutsu simple and almost undetectable with a few tricks thrown in."

"I still don't like it." Naruto grumbled crossing his arms and pouting as he turned away. Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head at his antics. Naruto would always be a little kid at heart. But that was what made him Naruto.

"Don't be like that. You almost had me there. Besides I believe we proved the point we worked well together," Kakashi stated glancing at the always frowning Uchiha Yashiro and Sai carefully watching from a far off distance. He wasn't sure if the elder approved of Team Seven but with hope, maybe things wouldn't be so bad. He pulled out his trusty book and motioned for the others to head on over but not before letting out a slight comment, "Now don't do anything to hasty. Yashiro can be trouble for us if he doesn't approve. After all, he gave me a lot of trouble from when I first received the Sharingan. If it hadn't been for the Fourth, I don't know what might have happened."

* * *

Sitting securely and unnoticed on a tree branch, Itachi watched Team Seven spar. Carefully concealed, he let his thoughts drift yet not enough to be distracted. It wouldn't do to have them notice he was there when he was not yet ready for it. There could be no room for mistakes. Everything had to go according to plan or all the effort he put in would be wasted. And he would not have it. Not when he had finally starting living for himself no matter how short lived it would be.

For most of his life, he had followed other's plans for him. Always falling into step with their expectations for him.

Once, there had been a time when he had wanted to be free. Free to take chances, to make a life of his own instead of listening to others on how he should live his life. All he had ever truly wanted was the feeling of being accepted just as himself. Not as an Anbu, or a ninja or even as an Uchiha. Just only as a person.

But as the next in line for head of the family, he had responsibility and he had to force back the selfish idea that he could ever be free. It just wasn't that simple. His dreams had been overlooked, but maybe now of all times things could still change. He still wasn't free but maybe that was okay.

Red eyes gleaming, he watched as Team Seven finished up but keeping his gaze locked on the pale color of pink wondering if the others new yet. Either way it would not interfere with his a quick sigh, he vanished from his observant spot. _After all, they weren't the only ones needing watching._


End file.
